§ 8. Mr. LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he proposes to improve manufacturing employment in the Bolton/Bury travel-towork area.
§ Mr. HowardThe employment service and the Bolton and Bury training and enterprise council operate a wide range of services and programmes to help improve the employment prospects for unemployed people in the area. It is employers who create jobs, whether it is in the manufacturing sector or other sectors of the economy.
§ Mr. LewisThe Secretary of State will not be surprised to know that I think that that was, as usual, a bogus answer. Does he not realise that since 1979, 1,000 manufacturing jobs a year have been lost in the Bolton-Bury travel-to-work area, which includes my constituency? Does he not realise that the jobs that have been created, which are part time and low paid, such as stacking shelves in supermarkets, are no way to treat the cradle of the industrial revolution?
§ Mr. HowardWhy is the hon. Gentleman so determined to paint his area in the darkest possible light? Why does he not talk instead about the reduction in unemployment of 41 per cent. since July 1986? Why does he not talk about the almost 2,500 young people who are receiving training in the Bolton and Bury area, almost 80 per cent. of them qualifying or receiving further training after they have completed their youth training? Why does he not talk about the 500 people in his area who currently benefit from the enterprise allowance? Why does he not talk about the £4 million that is spent through the urban programme in his area, or about the £19 million that has been spent through regional selective assistance since 1979? Why does he not tell the world the good news about his area, instead of darkening its image in such a damaging way?