HC Deb 03 May 1988 vol 132 cc708-10
1. Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the rate of the fall in unemployment in the last 12 months in the United Kingdom.

4. Mr. Ian Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of people currently unemployed; and what are the comparable figures for 12 months ago.

The Secretary of State for Employment (Mr. Norman Fowler)

In March 1988, seasonally adjusted adult unemployment in the United Kingdom was 2,505,000, a fall of 532,500 over the past 12 months. Unemployment has now fallen consistently for 20 months, by 706,000, the largest sustained fall on record.

Mr. Amess

Is my right hon. Friend aware that unemployment in Basildon has practically halved since 1983? In fact, it has fallen so much that the Socialist-inspired unemployment board has fallen down. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that dramatic fall reflects great credit on the local jobcentres, the enterprise of local businesses and, above all, the success of the Government's policies?

Mr. Fowler

I entirely agree. Above all, it shows the strength of the economy and the fact that new jobs are now being created at an unprecedented rate.

Mr. Taylor

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that long-term unemployment has fallen, from January 1987 to January 1988, by 234,000? Will he also confirm that that shows the complete success of the job creation and training measures introduced by the Government? Will he condemn those unions that are not co-operating in full to reduce further the number of unemployed?

Mr. Fowler

Yes, indeed. There was a fall of about 234,000 over those 12 months in long-term unemployment—that is unemployment of more than 12 months. That is the biggest 12-month fall on record. There was also a record fall of about 365,000 over those 12 months in longer-term unemployment—that is unemployment of more than six months. That shows the Government's commitment to reducing unemployment and the success of their policies.

Mr. Duffy

The Secretary of State did not mention the continuing slowing down of numbers of people leaving the jobless queues. Contrary to what his hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Mr. Amess) said, is he aware that, in its latest business trend survey, the Sheffield Engineering Employers Association reports that three times as many firms show no improvement, or even a worsening of the numbers of employees, as show an improvement?

Mr. Fowler

There are some special factors associated with Sheffield business which are not the responsibility of Government. Unemployment is falling in all regions. One of the areas in which it has come down fastest over the past 12 months is Yorkshire and Humberside.

Mr. Skinner

Will the Secretary of State give a guarantee that, during the remainder of this Parliament, the unemployment figures will continue to fall? Will he tell the House and those outside why, when unemployment is rising the Government say that it has little or nothing to do with their policies, but when unemployment is falling during an election boom, they claim the credit?

Mr. Fowler

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the strength of the economy is one of the real reasons why unemployment is falling and new jobs are being created. There is no doubt about that. I see no reason why unemployment should not continue to fall. I shall not put a figure on that, but the most significant point for the hon. Gentleman is that unemployment has fallen, not just over one, two or three months, but for each of the past 20 months. That is the Government's record.

Mr. Beaumont-Dark

Does my right hon. Friend accept that one of the most encouraging things for the west midlands, which have suffered under the necessary economic changes, is that only 370 redundancies have been announced, whereas 7,400 new jobs have been created, proving that at long last, in spite of the problems that we have suffered, the midlands are on their way again? Does he agree that, provided the pound stays stable, we have a chance of that record going on and on?

Mr. Fowler

There is no doubt that the midlands, and the west midlands in particular, are very much on their way again. The west midlands have shown the largest decrease of all the regions in the rate of unemployment over the past 12 months.

Mr. Meacher

Is the Secretary of State aware that, cutting out the Government's 20 fiddles of the unemployment figures, the true figure for unemployment in Britain today is 3,305,000? Is he not ashamed that that figure is still almost three times higher than that which the Government inherited in 1979, and higher at 11.9 per cent. than in any other major Western country, except for Spain and Italy? Finally, is he not ashamed that, even where jobs have been created, they have been overwhelmingly low-pay, low-skill, part-time jobs with no future?

Mr. Fowler

The hon. Gentleman, even by his own standards, is being extremely foolish in everything that he has said. Literally every point that he has just made is untrue and does not coincide with the facts. The labour force survey shows that the unemployment position is, if anything, understated. In other words, it shows a better rather than a worse unemployment position.

The position in respect of part-time jobs is not as the hon. Gentleman says. It is about half full-time and half part-time jobs. Those are the figures for the past 12 months. During the general election the hon. Gentleman and his predecessor said that when the election was over unemployment would go up again but since the election unemployment has come down by almost 420,000.

2. Mr. Ward

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on comparable unemployment figures for France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Fowler

The latest figures show that unemployment in the United Kingdom is lower than in France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. It is also lower than in Spain and Ireland. Over the past year the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom has fallen faster than in any other industrial country.

Mr. Ward

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. At the risk of upsetting the Opposition further with more good news, will he confirm that average employment in the United Kingdom is higher as a proportion than that of any of our EEC partners? Is he prepared to give the figures for those under 25 who are unemployed?

Mr. Fowler

I agree with my hon. Friend. The hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) appears to have a vested interest in high unemployment, not low unemployment.

With regard to the under-25s, the latest comparison shows that the United Kingdom has 14.5 per cent. unemployed compared with a European Community average of 20.6 per cent.

Mrs. Fyfe

Is the Minister aware that the bulk of the growth in employment over recent months has been in East Anglia, the south-west, the south-east and the midlands, and that the percentage increase in Scotland is precisely 0.1 per cent.? Will he comment on the position in Glasgow, Maryhill where unemployment is currently, 29 per cent., the position has not improved recently and there is precious little private sector investment?

Mr. Fowler

Unemployment has come down in all regions. That is not to say that there are not areas where we want unemployment to come down even further and I believe that it will. It is inaccurate for the hon. Lady to say that the fall is confined to London and the south-east. The significance of the figures for the past 18 to 20 months is that unemployment has come down literally in every region.

Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman

Will my right hon. Friend confirm what the Minister with responsibility for tourism was good enough to say in Lancaster on Thursday namely, that there is a tremendous spin-off from service jobs to manufacturing jobs? Will he also confirm that places which make their service industries thrive also have thriving manufacturing industries? The continentals have known that for years, and we are only just beginning to learn it.

Mr. Fowler

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Service jobs in tourism, banking or computing have shown some of the biggest increases over past months. These are real jobs. As my hon. Friend has said, in many cases there is a spin-off for manufacturing industry supplying those service industries.