HC Deb 03 March 1999 vol 326 cc1066-7
4. Mr. Richard Livsey (Brecon and Radnorshire)

What progress he has made in finding alternative employment for the work force of the Lucas-SEI factory at Ystradgynlais in the upper Swansea valley. [72456]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Peter Hain)

The nine-point action plan that I announced on 1 February is being taken forward actively and, so far, job referrals have been made to about half the Lucas work force. Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

Mr. Livsey

I know that the Minister and his Department have been working hard on this issue, but I am sure that he appreciates that only 30 of the employees of Lucas-SEI have found work. It is a serious situation. The leaflet that I hold in my hand was produced by the overseas trade services department of the Welsh Office. It says: It's not too late to take the plunge into Poland. An event is taking place on 10 March that is aimed at Welsh investors. Would it not be better if those Welsh investors invested in the upper Swansea valley instead and provided jobs on the Ystradgynlais site, where there are many women, but 500 of them cannot leave their community to work? They have no transport, they have children at school, and they have a sore need for employment.

Mr. Hain

I pay tribute to the role that the hon. Gentleman has played with me in advancing and protecting the case of the Lucas workers. However, he fundamentally misrepresents what the export mission is about. As a Government, we should support Welsh businesses, including those in the Swansea valley, that want to export to Poland and elsewhere in the world; we should protect jobs, increase growth opportunities and strengthen those businesses. That is what the mission organised by the Welsh Office, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is about. It is not in conflict with the attempt to rescue the situation in the Swansea valley; it complements that effort, because it strengthens Welsh businesses that want to sell their goods and services abroad.

Mr. Alan W. Williams (East Carmarthen and Dinefwr)

Although I feel every sympathy for the 700 people—a large fraction of whom live in my constituency—who will lose their work at Ystradgynlais, may I express my strong support for my hon. Friend's handling of the problem? Regrettably, it was necessary to deal with it in a hard-headed way, in that the jobs went to Poland to people paid only about a quarter of the wages paid here. Is there any possibility of that multinational company bringing alternative work to Ystradgynlais? Obviously, we must redouble our efforts to bring other work to that area.

Mr. Hain

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for those comments. I have held discussions at the highest levels, in America and Britain, with the company and its new owner to try to secure the future of the site for the Swansea valley and to provide alternative job opportunities. However, the message from Lucas-SEI deals a savage blow to the Swansea valley, because the jobs that are being created in Poland and Slovakia pay only a quarter of the wages that were being paid in south Wales. That shows that the Government's strategy of driving the Welsh economy upwards to a high-skill, high-quality economy is the only one that will safeguard jobs in the future.

Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West)

Does the Minister acknowledge that there is a lesson to be learned about the importance of lower levels of regulation and social cost, and especially—in relation to the Polish example—about the transformation of an economy that can be wrought by capitalism?

Mr. Hain

I realise that the hon. Gentleman stumbles into Welsh debates with a certain amount of clumsiness, but I must point out to him that the lesson of the Lucas fiasco is that the Tory strategy, pursued in Wales for 18 bitter years, of attacking the work force and closing down jobs does not work. The only strategy that will work is to drive up the quality of the Welsh economy so that it is a high-skill, world-class economy in which people want to invest. People will want to remain operating in Wales because we in Wales have the best work force and the best economy.

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