HC Deb 19 October 1992 vol 212 cc196-7
13. Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the latest employment figures for Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. David Hunt

In June 1992, according to the latest available figure, the civilian work force in employment in Wales numbered 1,146,000. We are lucky in Wales to have a good positive partnership, and I very much hope that the Welsh economic council, whose establishment I announced today, will build on that. I am happy to tell the House that I shall want the council to address the following issues: first, the need to continue to train a highly skilled work force; secondly, the need to keep Wales at the top of the inward investment league table; thirdly, support for small businesses; fourthly, creation of an enterprise culture; fifthly, enhanced use of local suppliers; sixthly, an export drive for Wales; seventhly, diversification and expansion of our economy; and, finally, the need to expand our high technology sector and establish further centres for research and development.

Mr. Wigley

We have just had a statement that should have been made on the Floor of the House so that Members of Parliament could ask questions. Interestingly, there was no reference to the need to raise per capita incomes in Wales, which have dropped dramatically in the past 10 years. Is the Secretary of State aware of the devastation felt in Wales as established factories shed labour and small companies go bankrupt, to which must be added the pit closures of the past week? Does he realise that it is not just a question whether the messenger forgot to reach him with a message about the closures? It is a question of why he was not involved in the decisions being taken on these vital matters. How can the right hon. Gentleman continue in that job when his fellow Cabinet Ministers have so little confidence in him?

Mr. Hunt

The hon. Gentleman criticises me for making a statement but I must refer him to his question: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what are the latest employment figures for Wales; and if he will make a statement. At nationalisation, Wales had 220 pits and the coal industry employed 123,000 people. Before last week's announcement we were down to two pits—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"]. Before the announcement on 20 August, we were down to two pits employing just over 1,000 people. The answer is that Wales is not to be pessimistic about the future but must go out and get new jobs. The new jobs that have come to Wales mean that overall unemployment in Wales has fallen below the United Kingdom average this year for the first time since 1924. The hon. Gentleman should be applauding that—not talking down our achievements.

Mr. Rowlands

It is a cruel deception for the Secretary of State to pretend that he will match job losses through these announcements. How many jobs has he announced today for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, where we have lost nearly 4,000 jobs at Hoover, where firms have been closed, where male unemployment is more than 20 per cent. and where two thirds of the jobs created over the past five years have been part time?

Will the right hon. Gentleman give me a simple answer to a simple question? Did he manage either last night or at today's Cabinet meeting to get a reprieve for the Taff Merthyr colliery, on the basis that it was never meant to be closed this month or, more specifically, next Friday?

Mr. Hunt

I recognise that the timing was changed, but on 20 August British Coal made an announcement with a view to the closure of the Taff Merthyr colliery.

I shall let the hon. Gentleman have details of the jobs that have been brought to Merthyr. If he examines the inward investment and regional assistance that have come to Wales this year, he will find that we have brought tens of thousands of jobs to Wales, and that we shall continue to do.

Mr. Wigley

On a point of order, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker

Order. I take points of order at the end of questions.

Mr. Wigley

In view of the entirely inadequate reply to my question, I give notice that I wish to raise on the Adjournment the inadequate apology of the Secretary of State for unemployment in Wales.

Madam Speaker

The hon. Gentleman is a skilled parliamentarian and I have noted what he has said.

Back to