§ 1. Mr. Donald ThompsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the level of employment in the offshore oil and gas industry in each of the years from 1983 to 1989.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Energy (Mr. Peter Morrison)Employment in the offshore oil and gas industry has ranged from 31,300 to 22,300 during the past seven years. It is currently over 30,700—the highest level since 1984.
§ Mr. ThompsonWhile thanking my right hon. Friend for that reply, may I remind him of not only offshore investment, but inshore investment in the oil industry—in valves, heavy engineering equipment and highly technological equipment, in which British engineers lead the world? Will he do all he can to encourage inshore investment, as well as offshore investment?
§ Mr. MorrisonMy hon. Friend is right. Literally tens of thousands of people are employed onshore in the services and capital goods industries. I am delighted that the numbers employed onshore have increased substantially in the past year.
§ Mr. SalmondWill the Minister explain why his Department today issued such a pathetically weak response to the report of the Select Committee on Energy on Britoil and BP job losses and assets sales? Why was not his Department able at least to agree with the Select Committee that to sack 1,000 people a mere 18 months after apparently promising them job security represented a substantial breach of the spirit of that assurance? Has not the Department of Energy, under Tory control, once again demonstrated that it is not fit to police oil companies independently in the North sea and has no intention of protecting Scottish interests?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe hon. Member will understand that it was not a weak response in any sense. It responded to the points that he and others made in the Select Committee report, which we welcomed and, by and large, agreed with. Unlike him, I am no interventionist.
§ Mr. MossNow that offshore employment is at its highest level for six years, thanks to the massive investment in the United Kingdom continental shelf, does my right hon. Friend agree that that is good news for jobs in Scotland?
§ Mr. MorrisonIt is certainly good news for jobs in Scotland. My hon. Friend points out what some Opposition Members apparently do not want as much as we do.