Employment Trends

HC Deb 14 November 2000 vol 356 cc787-90

2. Mr. Nigel Griffiths (Edinburgh, South)

If he will make a statement on employment trends in Scotland.[136322]

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Dr. John Reid)

Employment in Scotland is at record levels, with 2,376,000 people in work and an employment rate of 73.4 per cent. I do not have the breakdown of figures for Inverurie, but I can write to my hon. Friend if he wishes.

Mr. Griffiths

Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that he will continue to promote policies such as the new deal, which has helped 25,000 young Scots from welfare into work, and the working families tax credit, which helps up to 100,000 Scottish families? Will he decisively reject the Conservative party's policies to scrap the valuable allowances and schemes? Such policies would return us to the era of mass unemployment and despair. Will my right hon. Friend turn his back on that?

Dr. Reid

Yes, I can promise my hon. Friend that I will do that. I believe that we are beginning to benefit not only from the new deal but from the stable economic framework that the Government have created and that has resulted in the highest employment that we have ever had in Scotland and the lowest unemployment since 1976. It is worth emphasising that the reduction in unemployment is not only good in itself, but, along with the reduction in debt, allows us to put money towards vital services such as education, health and transport that are benefiting from the tough decisions that were taken. Rather than spending up to 50p in every pound of taxpayers' money on debt repayment and unemployment, we are allowed to put 83p of every pound towards vital public services.

Sir Robert Smith (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)

Although I welcome the trend, I hope that the Secretary of State acknowledges that we must never become complacent, and that we must ensure that every possible job in Scotland is available. To that end, what role does the Secretary of State play in ensuring that the United Kingdom Government have a coherent policy on the dispersal of civil servants' jobs? Is he worried about the report in The Herald in Glasgow about the apparent decision of the Department for International Development not to locate jobs in Scotland because of the anxiety about the lack of a talented work force there? Will he ensure that his colleagues understand that Scotland is an excellent place in which to locate work and that it has a talented work force? Will he also ensure that the Government have a coherent strategy for dispersing civil servants' jobs?

Dr. Reid

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that the Government should, whenever possible, help to support British industry and disperse jobs. On dispersal of jobs to Scotland, the Department for International Development has as good a record as any other Department, or even a better one. As he will know, there is a major section of the DFID at East Kilbride. Moreover, thousands upon thousands of jobs in Scotland depend directly or indirectly on the Government and the civil service through Departments such as the Ministry of Defence. I am glad that the Government have been fighting to create jobs in the public and private sectors, such as with the recent decision to award a contract to the Govan shipyard, which can secure the future of that shipyard.

Mr. David Marshall (Glasgow, Shettleston)

The Secretary of State has probably just answered my question. I was going to ask him whether he agrees with me that one of the biggest boosts to employment in the Glasgow area has been the recent welcome decision by the Ministry of Defence to award a substantial order to BAE Systems in Govan. Will he join me in congratulating the work force on their valiant efforts to secure that vital order? Will he tell the House how many such contracts would come to Scotland if it were not part of the United Kingdom?

Dr. Reid

As my hon. Friend feels that I have already dealt with his first question, perhaps I should answer the second. In the unfortunate circumstance of an SNP-dominated, separate Scotland, very few people would be involved in building the three rowing boats that would presumably form the basis of the SNP navy sailing endlessly between Gourock and Dunoon to bring security to the people of Scotland.

On a more serious note, as my hon. Friend said we should congratulate the work force at Govan on their efforts, not least their recent work on the auxiliary oilers. I am glad that we have been able to assist, but no one should be under any illusions because this is an extremely competitive industry internationally. All British shipyards face great competition not only against each other but internationally. It is down to the workers and the management to win contracts, although the British Government will do whatever we can to assist British workers.

Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst)

Is the Secretary of State aware that unemployment levels in 15 English constituencies and 6 constituencies in London are higher than the highest in Scotland, which regrettably is, I believe, your constituency, Mr. Speaker? Does the Secretary of State attribute that to the enormous amount of public money that pours north from England to assist with the process? If so, what will he do to put that injustice right and to ensure that a proper amount of public money is spent south of the border to give us the benefits that Scotland has had?

Dr. Reid

I would be the first to accept that there are pockets of unemployment in England and in the London area that are as bad or worse than in many parts of Scotland. We have constantly made the point that the difference within regions is as big as the difference between regions. The right hon. Gentleman asks me to attribute blame for those circumstances. Without being churlish, I contend that the blame lies with 18 years of Conservative government.

It is a fact that in London, as throughout the United Kingdom, since this Government came in we have diminished greatly the level of unemployment. We now have the highest record of employment that we have ever had, and we have the lowest level of unemployment since the 1970s. That is because the Government have created a stable economic framework that enables the private sector to create jobs, and through the new deal the Government have given individuals the confidence and the initiative to take up those jobs. It is a pity that the right hon. Gentleman's party is committed to getting rid of schemes such as the new deal, which have done so much, and would unfortunately take us back to the boom and bust of the previous Tory Government.

Mr. John McFall (Dumbarton)

To take up the theme of injustice, does the Secretary of State agree with me that one of the greatest injustices was the lack of a national minimum wage? Under this Government, more than 140,000 Scots earn at least £3.70 an hour, whereas in the days of the previous Government it did not matter to them that some people earned only 70p an hour.

Dr. Reid

I entirely agree. There were those on the Opposition Benches who predicted that if we introduced a decent minimum wage, we would lose hundreds of thousands of jobs. That has not happened. We have introduced a wage level below which people should not be forced to drop—it is the first time in British history that that has been the case—and, at the same time, created many thousands more jobs than would otherwise have been created. It is a pity, indeed a tragedy, that so many of the things that we are now able to build up because of the hard decisions that we made at an early stage would be abolished by a Conservative Government. I am thinking not just of the new deal, but of many of the benefits that we have been able to hand out to pensioners—including, of course, the winter fuel allowance.