Unemployment (Hansard, 30 November 1993)

§ 6. Mr. Dowd
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give figures for the total adult unemployment in Lewisham West on 1 January for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. David Hunt
Since 1989, 3,747; 2,978; 3,966; 5,895 and 6,904 respectively.

§ Mr. Dowd
Is the Secretary of State aware that those figures show that, for every marginal decline in the numbers of unemployed in my constituency and across London as a whole, there has been a far greater increase in the numbers out of work? Those numbers reveal not only the numbers out of work but the number of jobs that have been lost to London's economy since the Government took office. Almost half a million jobs have been lost to the London economy in the past 10 years.
When will the Secretary of State understand that the Government's two greatest failings are their economic policy and their inability to deal with that question? No synthetic anger towards those who point that out to him will obscure that fact; nor will his bogus enthusiasm for a recovery that has not touched London.

§ Mr. Hunt
So far this year, there has been a fall in unemployment of 231. The Lewisham jobcentre has placed 2,745 people into jobs since October of last year. I am saddened that the hon. Gentleman has not paid tribute to the tremendous amount of work being done by the South Thames training and enterprise council in providing opportunities to the long-term unemployed. The hon. Gentleman has not mentioned that the Employment Service has placed 190,273 people into jobs in the past 12 months, up 13.6 per cent. on the year before.

§ 7. Ms Gordon
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he last met representatives of London local authorities to discuss unemployment.

§ Miss Widdecombe
Although my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any consultations with the local authorities, nevertheless they are in close consultation with the training and enterprise councils. Any request for a meeting would be sympathetically considered.

§ Ms Gordon
The Minister has boasted that unemployment in Britain is lower than in Europe. Will she tell that to my constituents in the east end, where unemployment is about 20 per cent., 25 per cent. in some places and 60 per cent. for young black males? Will the Minister tell us the arrangements that are being made to ensure that east enders benefit from developments such as the Jubilee line and that they get the jobs created-unlike other developments, which have left us with a net loss of jobs?

§ Miss Widdecombe
The hon. Lady would benefit from a lesson from Martyn Lewis, which might give her constituents some other facts of equal relevance—for example, 13.6 per cent. more people put into work by jobcentres, from which her constituency has benefited; the advent of jobs, as she has admitted, from the Jubilee line, from Argos, from United Parcels and from Tesco-Metro. Why does not the hon. Lady bring hope to her constituents instead of always trying to depress young people who want to work and the long-term unemployed, all of whom our initiatives are helping? Why does she not welcome those initiatives and back her local TEC and local employment services? She should stop trying to spread gloom when there is obviously good news to be had.

§ Sir Michael Neubert
Again referring to Martyn Lewis, should it not be remembered that there 20,000 manufacturing businesses in London, and that London creates almost 20 per cent. of our national wealth and contributes £8.5 billion more in taxation than it receives from the Exchequer? Will my hon. Friend continue to support measures that will enhance the potential of London as one of the nation's greatest assets?

§ Miss Widdecombe
Yes. In addition to that good news, there is the winning of city challenge and all the potential that that has, and the fact that the highest number of people since records began left the unemployment register for London and the south-east.