§ 9. Judy Mallaber (Amber Valley)If he will make a statement on his Department's response to the textile and clothing strategy group's report published on 6 June. [124591]
§ Mr. ByersThank you very much.
The Government welcome the report of the strategy group on the textile and clothing industry. At its launch last week, the Government announced as a first step measures to help firms strengthen their position in world markets, raise added value, improve skills levels and diversify into new markets. The Government's response has been widely welcomed by the industry.
§ Judy MallaberI thank my right hon. Friend, and welcome his comment that his statement last week was just a first response to that report. which is so essential to making sure that the industry has a future and can compete in world markets.
In view of the current job losses and closures in the industry, will my right hon. Friend ensure that the special unit now set up in his Department acts very speedily on all the recommendations in the report, in conjunction with the industry, and that the necessary additional resources are allocated to back up that work? Will he instruct the Government offices for the regions to give assistance to clothing and textiles firms, including helping them access 1098 the grants that are available? Will he also urge regional development agencies to give priority to the industry and see what they can do to make sure that it has a future?
§ Mr. ByersMy hon. Friend is right to point out that last week we announced a plan that is really just the first step in our approach to the strategy group's report. A key aspect will be to address matters at a regional level. The regions of England—and, indeed, Scotland and Wales—are being affected in different ways, reflecting the diversity of the industry. The Government offices, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly are looking carefully at how they can assist an industry through a period of quite radical change, which is what we are seeing in the textiles and clothing industry.
I happen to believe that, given the strengths that we have in the United Kingdom, textiles can be a real growth industry in the future. For that to be achieved, we have to arrest the present decline, and I think that the measures that we have put in place will begin to do precisely that.
§ Mr. David Tredinnick (Bosworth)Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that for many thousands of workers in the east midlands, including my constituency in Leicestershire, the report has come too late, and that there is very little in it for those who have lost their jobs? Does he further accept that some recommendations, such as those for improvements in training, mean little in a town like Hinckley, where the courses have just closed down?
What will the right hon. Gentleman do about reducing tariff barriers in markets overseas, now that the multi-fibre arrangement is being phased out? What is there in the report about his attempts to improve the trading situation for our hard-pressed companies abroad—companies that are in a worse situation under this Government?
§ Mr. ByersAs for the multi-fibre arrangement, we are ensuring that as we move into that situation, we can open up trade and markets that will benefit UK industry. That is what we intend to do, while recognising, as we do, that open trade is in the interests of the industry because there will be more markets to which it can export. That is one of the Government's key objectives.
I understand that the training courses that were held at Hinckley have not closed, but have been transferred to a neighbouring college, so the opportunities are still there. However, the hon. Gentleman is right to point out the importance of training for people who were involved in the industry. There has been a history of underinvestment in training and skills development. One of the key priorities raised in the strategy group's report was the importance of investing in skills and training—and that is exactly what we intend to do.
§ Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East)A few days ago, Coats Viyella announced the closure of the Cawdor Street mill in my constituency in Farnworth, with the loss of 90 jobs. Will the recommendations in the report that are aimed at helping such workers be in place soon enough to assist those who will lose their jobs in Farnworth?
§ Mr. ByersThrough the initiatives taken by the Department for Education and Employment, tailor-made proposals will help individuals who have been affected by the announcement to which my hon. Friend referred. 1099 In addition to the help that we can give individuals, it is important to look at the industry as a whole to consider what support the Government can give. As a result of the strategy group's report, that is what we are doing. The report includes a series of recommendations from the industry and its employees; that is why it is so strong and so practical in setting out an agenda for the future of the industry, and why we take it so seriously. Last week we responded to several of the recommendations, and during the period ahead, we shall give further consideration to how we can implement the review group's proposals positively.
§ Mr. Richard Page (South-West Hertfordshire)I assure the House that I am wearing a jacket that was made in England.
Why did the strategy group set up by the DTI take more than a year and a half to report? Every month during that year and a half, hundreds—thousands—of jobs were lost, culminating today, I understand, in 4,000 jobs at C&A. Is the Secretary of State not aware that he should have taken action to have the report produced sooner? Is he aware that the textiles analyst at Deutsche bank said that the initiative could not reverse the industry's fortunes? She said:
This sounds like a lot of hot air. The government is just trying to avoid adverse publicity. It is willing to pour money into Rover, but the textiles sector is in far worse condition than the car industry—that's politics for you.Is he not aware that in his own Department, a challenge initiative is under way with the apparel and textiles industry to carry out the main aspects of the report? That is in place, and it is funded by his Department. May we have an answer from the Secretary of State about the strategy? Why is the Department prepared to put money into Rover and not into the textiles industry? May we have a constructive answer, not a lot of spin?
§ Mr. ByersThe hon. Gentleman does no service to the Phoenix group, which has taken over Rover, by implying that it receives state support; it does not. The group has made it clear to its City backers that it is not asking for money from the Government. I hope that the hon. Gentleman realises that he has made a mistake. He is talking down the Phoenix group, and that will be bad news for Rover and for Longbridge. That is the reality: not a penny is going from the Government to the Phoenix group to support it in Longbridge. That is what Phoenix wanted, and that is how we are responding. He should not talk the group down; the City listens carefully to such comments.
The textiles and clothing strategy group was not run by the Department. We asked the industry to make recommendations, and the industry took 18 months. That was the decision that it took. However, it has made clear recommendations to the Government, and we are acting on them.
The Conservatives have no strategy for textiles and clothing. They were prepared to see the industry become the innocent victim of market forces. We are prepared to help it through a process of change and to diversify, raise skills and invest in the future—and that is exactly what we shall do.
In case the hon. Gentleman wants to ask about my labels, he will be pleased to know that, from top to toe, I am wearing Great British-built clothing.