§ 4. Mr. Dafydd Wigley (Caernarfon)If he will make a statement on unemployment levels in (a) Gwynedd and (b) Wales. [61562]
§ The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Alun Michael)Seasonally adjusted figures show that, in October, there were 67,800 people unemployed in Wales. That represents 5.4 per cent. of the labour force. On an unadjusted basis, the rate was 5.3 per cent. Figures for unitary authorities are available only on an unadjusted basis. In Gwynedd, there were 3,540 people unemployed on that basis, a rate of 6.4 per cent.
§ Mr. WigleyDoes the Secretary of State accept that the level of unemployment in Gwynedd is unacceptably high and that something must be done about it as a matter of urgency? In that context, what is happening in the review of the regional assistance maps under the Industry Acts, and will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the need to ensure a correlation between areas of high unemployment and those designated for the highest level of regional development?
§ Mr. MichaelThe right hon. Gentleman says that something must be done, and I agree with him. However, on the unadjusted figures, Gwynedd had 9 per cent. unemployment in October 1996 and that is down to 5.3 per cent this year, as I said. That represents real progress. The impact of objective I status will be considerable, but the right hon. Gentleman is right to point to the need also to promote assisted area status in Wales. In the past few weeks, I have announced the financial package for farmers in Wales; I have been to Newtown to ram home the priority of helping west and mid-Wales with the Welsh Development Agency; we have come to the brink of achieving objective 1 status; and we are making clear our intention to help areas such as Gwynedd in a variety of ways.
§ Mr. Ted Rowlands (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)Given that the jobs problem may worsen in the coming months, shall we not be more and more dependent on the new deal? In that context, will my right hon. Friend comment on the failure of many of the quangos in Wales—training and enterprise councils, health trusts and health authorities—to employ anyone under the new arrangements? Are not those organisations letting Wales and the Government down?
§ Mr. MichaelI am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that we have taken up that issue. The Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain), has written to those bodies expressing the wish that they should provide opportunities through the new deal.
We want the new deal to bring people into jobs and employability, so it is important that we should continue to grow jobs in Wales as well as attracting jobs into Wales. As my hon. Friend says, there have been job losses but, in recent weeks, there have also been job gains in many parts of Wales, both in north and south Wales. However, we need to keep the pressure up through the new deal and with long-term sustainable jobs.
§ Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring)Does the Secretary of State expect unemployment in Wales to be higher or lower at the time of the Welsh Assembly elections?
§ Mr. MichaelTo some extent, that depends on how the economy develops. It would be interesting to know what the hon. Gentleman expects. I rather think that, at the time 308 of the general election, he did not expect to see unemployment coming down, as it has under this Government.
§ Dr. FoxIt is extraordinary that the Secretary of State is not confident that unemployment will continue to fall, as it did under the Conservatives in a way that has benefited Wales so much. It is a little ironic that the Secretary of State is putting the most energy into his own job search. He wants to represent his own constituency, to represent a totally different constituency in another part of Wales, to remain Secretary of State for Wales and to lead Labour in the Welsh Assembly. As others are beginning to lose their jobs, the right hon. Gentleman wants not one, two or three jobs, but four jobs. Is that what the new deal means to the Secretary of State in Wales?
§ Mr. MichaelIt is kind of the hon. Gentleman to expose to the House the fact that neither he nor his party has the slightest interest in the people on whom unemployment in Wales bears down. He is interested in scoring cheap points. Labour Members are interested in helping those in jobs to keep them, and in finding jobs for the unemployed. The hon. Gentleman has marked out the difference between us.
§ Mr. Barry Jones (Alyn and Deeside)In the past four months, my constituency has lost more than 400 jobs—for example, 200 at the Optical Fibres plant, 150 at Shotton steelworks and 100 with the closure of the Kimberly-Clark factory. In addition, I, my constituents and my county council fear that the Commission in Brussels may well plan to strip my constituency of its assisted area status. I look to my right hon. Friend and the Government to tell the Commission that that should not happen in a constituency which only recently suffered the largest redundancy ever in Europe when we lost 8,000 jobs at Shotton.
§ Mr. MichaelI have sympathy with my hon. Friend. I referred earlier to the fact that there have been job losses and gains in various parts of Wales. The immediate situation has led to some problems for my hon. Friend. There are some things that will help, such as the power station announcement for Shotton Paper. However, I take on board my hon. Friend's points, and I look forward to spending some time with him in his constituency in the coming weeks to discuss with employers, trade unionists and others the problems and aspirations that he shares with them in his constituency.