HC Deb 21 July 1987 vol 120 c191
2. Mr. Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on regional differences in the changes in numbers employed in the service industries since 1979.

The Minister for Employment (Mr. John Cope)

Since 1979 there has been an increase in service sector employment in every region except Wales and the northwest. Since 1983 employment in the service industries has increased in every region.

Mr. Thomas

Does the Minister accept that the figures for Wales over the 1979 to 1986 period are extremely disappointing? To what does the hon. Gentleman attribute the failure of the Welsh economy to increase service employment on a par with the other nations and regional economies in the United Kingdom?

Mr. Cope

The figures were disappointing, but they are improving now. That was the main point of my answer. As I hope the hon. Gentleman knows, in the past 12 months unemployment in Wales has fallen more rapidly than in any other part of Britain.

Mr. Roger King

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his new position. Does he agree that the service sector, especially tourism, is an essential growth area within some of our older cities and cities such as Birmingham, which has introduced the National Exhibition Centre, the Convention Centre and the August bank holiday super-prix, pointing the way forward for new job creation?

Mr. Cope

I agree with my hon. Friend. I am grateful to him for his good wishes — it seems popular to stop being a Whip.

Mr. Sheerman

The Minister knows that no Opposition Member decries the service sector or tourism, but the fact is that there is a regional imbalance. In most of the regions of the north, in Wales and in Scotland manufacturing jobs and opportunities have been destroyed and service jobs have not been able to make up those numbers anywhere. The greatest cause of concern for our country is this failure in the manufacturing sector. We cannot live by service jobs alone.

Mr. Cope

Of course we cannot. However, in many countries, including ours, service jobs are increasing and manufacturing jobs are declining. That was so under the Labour Government before we took office.