§ Mr. David Hinchliffe (Wakefield)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
job losses in the Wakefield metropolitan district".At 5 pm last Friday evening, I was informed by Lyons Bakeries (UK) Ltd of its intention to close down its Wakefield bakery and transfer the production of Lyons cakes elsewhere. Currently, about 334 full-time and 147 part-time staff are employed at the bakery, the plant being one of the largest employers in my constituency.The announcement of the closure comes only a fortnight after the announcement of the closure of the Lofthouse Foods factory in Wakefield. Although that factory is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien), several hundred of the 1,300 people losing their jobs there live in my constituency. Indeed, only the other day a neighbour came around asking for a reference for another job, having lost his job at that plant after nearly 40 years of working there.
The loss of nearly 2,000 jobs in such a short space of time would have a devastating impact on any area, but the impact on Wakefield is even more acute, because of the huge loss of employment that the district has faced owing to the rundown of coalmining and associated industries.
Since 1979, more than 20,000 such jobs have disappeared from Wakefield, and about 2,000 mining engineering jobs have gone in my constituency alone since 1987.
The consequence of this job haemorrhage in coal has been that women have increasingly become the main breadwinners in many homes. Female employment provided by companies such as Lyons Bakeries, even part-time, has often been the sole source of income of a growing number of families. On the latest available official estimate, 15,533 people were unemployed in the Wakefield district. That is a 7.5 per cent. increase over the previous year.
There are further huge projected job losses on the horizon, with 700 likely to lose their jobs when Sharlston colliery, in the adjacent Normanton constituency, closes shortly. The Wakefield area simply cannot take any further job losses, and there is a need to give urgent consideration to steps that must be taken to stop further redundancies and create new employment opportunities. Assisted area status is long overdue.
I appreciate the importance of today's business, Madam Speaker, but I am sure that you will understand—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman has not timed himself, and his time is now up. I have given very careful attention to what he has said, and I have to give my decision, as he knows, without stating any reasons. I am afraid that I do not consider that the matter that he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 20. I cannot, therefore, submit his application to the House.