HC Deb 17 January 1994 vol 235 cc515-7
5. Mr. Jonathan Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people in Wales are currently in employment; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Redwood

The current civilian work force in September 1993, the latest date for which we have figures, was 1,119,000 people.

Mr. Evans

Does my right hon. Friend share my view that the Development Board for Rural Wales has played a key role in defending jobs within its area? Has he noticed, however, that there appears to be a growing disparity between the board's performance in the Montgomeryshire area, where it is based, and its performance in some other parts of Wales, such as my constituency? Has not the time now come for the board to consider moving its headquarters further south?

Mr. Redwood

I am sure that the board wants to help all the areas for which it is responsible. Its members will see our exchanges today and I trust that it will redouble its efforts in my hon. Friend's constituency. Where the board sites its office is, of course, a matter for it. Again, its members will see my hon. Friend's remarks. Meanwhile, it is a fact that strikes, inflation and interest rates are down, while productivity, output and jobs numbers are up—[Interruption.] Although Opposition Members do not like that, it is the key to our recovery.

Mr. John Morris

Given the recent announcement that 600 jobs will be lost at BP Chemicals at Baglan, coming on top of the imminent loss of hundreds of jobs at Freemans Cigars, will the Secretary of State now reconsider the Government's decision to downgrade Port Talbot and Neath from development status?

Mr. Redwood

Assistance will still be available for various programmes in that area. We came to our best judgment at the time and we got an extremely good deal for Wales—a deal on which Wales can go forward and prosper.

Mr. Matthew Banks

Is not the Government's job in the Principality not directly to seek to increase the number of people in work, but to work to build the right economic framework and climate in which businesses may flourish, something which the Welsh Office has been so successful in doing in recent years?

Mr. Redwood

I agree that the main thing that helps to create jobs is the right economic climate, which is why in all my answers today I have stressed that inflation is down and that productivity is up—the right conditions under which business can trade successfully. There is a job for the Government as well. They need, for example, to pay money to clear the land and to lead regeneration schemes to deal with areas that have been damaged, especially by large nationalised industries. It is the Government's job vigorously to promote Wales as a place in which people can manufacture profitably, as many are discovering for themselves.

Mr. Morgan

Does the Secretary of State agree that, although the scissors effect worked very well on Saturday, the economic scissors effect—by which part-time jobs in service industries are up in Wales while full-time jobs in manufacturing are going inexorably down—is doing to the Welsh economy what the Prime Minister is supposed to want to do to him?

Mr. Redwood

The hon. Gentleman is as wrong in his quotation from the Prime Minister as he is in his general remarks on the Welsh economy. Rather than making a good debating point, he cheapens himself by his remarks. Many extra jobs are being created in Wales as a result of our initiatives and those of private investors and they are by no means all part-time jobs or jobs offering lower wages. On my recent tours, I have seen extremely good full-time jobs for men as well as women being added, involving a high degree of skill and good wages.