§ 2. Mr. Andrew Lansley (South Cambridgeshire)When he next intends to meet representatives of Scottish Enterprise to discuss economic development. [61264]
§ The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Donald Dewar)My colleagues and I regularly meet Scottish Enterprise, which plays an important part in the Government's proposals to modernise the Scottish economy. The most recent meeting was between my noble Friend the Minister for business and industry and the chairman and executives of Scottish Enterprise on 4 December.
Following assurances given to the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs, my strategy guidance to Scottish Enterprise entitled "Renewal and Enterprise" is being published today, and a copy has been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. LansleyI am grateful to the Secretary of State for that reply. When he next meets Scottish Enterprise, will he acknowledge that, with unemployment rising in Scotland, 12,000 job losses announced this year and business surveys increasingly showing falling order books in Scotland, he and his colleagues, particularly the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have left Scottish Enterprise ill equipped to respond to the impact of the Government's macro-economic policies?
§ Mr. DewarI shall start at the bottom—that is probably appropriate when dealing with the hon. Gentleman's questions. The budget for Scottish Enterprise is more than £440 million this year. It is adjusted, but remains substantially above £400 million. The reasons are that Hyundai did not come on stream, we are spending £70 million through the new deal on training and we decided, with the agreement of Scottish Enterprise, that it should spend less on property and more on its mainstream activities.
On the Scottish economy, the hon. Gentleman could not be more wrong. Of course none of us knows what the future holds, but he will know that the unemployment claimant count is at its lowest since 1977, that last month's unemployment figures again showed a drop in Scotland and that, looking at not just the bad news headlines but the good news headlines about the creation of jobs, there is a significant balance in Scotland's favour.
§ Ms Sandra Osborne (Ayr)May I take this opportunity to express the gratitude of the people of Ayrshire to my right hon. Friend and his colleagues for their response to the ending of Jetstream 41 production at Prestwick, which was to set up the Prestwick task force? As a member of that task force, I am aware that the report to be published shortly will show that substantially more jobs have been created than were originally lost. Does my right hon. Friend agree that such partnership working sets a good example for elsewhere?
§ Mr. DewarYes. I thank everybody, including my hon. Friend, who served on the Prestwick task force. It has been a success. I am also grateful to the firms that took the opportunity presented by the site at Prestwick. It is now a hub of activity and I am sure that it will grow and prosper in future. My hon. Friend the Member for East Lothian (Mr. Home Robertson) had a similar experience with the closure of Mitsubishi at Haddington, where energetic local action, using local talent, skills and advantages, did much to redress the balance.
§ Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire)When the Secretary of State next meets Scottish Enterprise, will he continue to discuss the particular difficulties being faced in south-east Scotland owing to the recent spate of redundancies? Is he aware that there is high expectation in the borders that when the Scottish Office working party reports in the next few days it will provide adequate additional resources to make a significant difference to those difficulties? In particular, will he make sure that any projects to expand employment in existing local businesses arising through the Scottish Enterprise network will not be knocked back by central Government because of a lack of funds?
§ Mr. DewarWe have made it very clear that good, viable projects will be encouraged in every way. That applies across Scotland, but we are particularly aware of the difficulties in the south of Scotland and in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. We cannot offer the prospect of immediate success in solving all the problems, but there are a number of encouraging factors.
There is a very good spirit of co-operation in the area and we have every intention of continuing to work closely with local interests. Some of the matters that were raised with me when I was there have been dealt with in another way and in another forum. For example, the recent settlement of some of the immediate anxieties of the farming industry has been widely welcomed in the south of Scotland.
§ Dr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Inverclyde)My right hon. Friend will forgive me for being parochial, but when he next meets representatives of Scottish Enterprise will he urge upon them the need to assist the further development of the waterfront at Port Glasgow—not in my patch—Greenock and Gourock? The Government also need to assist with the proposal by Clyde ports for the development of a passenger ferry terminal at Port Glasgow. It makes excellent sense and would provide lots of jobs on the lower Clyde.
§ Mr. DewarI of course appreciate the importance of the issue that my hon. Friend raises. There has been a great deal of work and a great deal of success has been achieved. There have also been disappointments, such as the unfortunate closure of National Semiconductors, but new jobs have also been created, for example at IBM, on a very extensive scale. Again there is a balance to be struck. I am aware of the particular project to which my hon. Friend referred at the end of his question; it is something that we will watch very carefully.
§ Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley)Is not the truth of the matter that job losses are on the increase in too many parts of Scotland? While the Secretary of State 130 concentrates on trying to get another job for himself—a prospect that is fading faster after the north-east Euro by-election—others are losing their jobs. With high interest rates compared with the rest of Europe, too strong a pound hitting exports, and high on-costs on wages even before the minimum wage starts pushing unemployment even higher, is the only hope for those losing their jobs due to Government policy to follow the lead of the Paymaster General and advertise their availability for hire in the "Yellow Pages"?
§ Mr. DewarI suppose that the hon. Gentleman is trying to add to his reputation as a statesman. Obviously he was not listening or decided to ignore what I said earlier. If we compare the job losses that have been announced since the beginning of the year and the job promises that have been made—I recognise that promises do not always turn into reality—and even if the promises are only two thirds fulfilled, it is clear that we are in balance.
Unemployment in Scotland has been falling steadily. I shall not attempt to predict the future because there is a world crisis and a contagion of fear in the international market—we cannot be totally immune from that—but we have a stable economy as a result of two years of tough but necessary decision making by my colleagues in the Treasury. We are thus in a good position to ride out the problems, and the figures remain encouraging.