§ 2.38 p.m.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords. I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they can give any estimate of the probable increase in unemployment in Dundee and Angus resulting from the reduction in the price of imported jute cloth announced by the President of the Board of Trade on July 17, and to ask further what precise steps are now being taken to extend the industrial estate in Dundee and to introduce new industries into this area under the Distribution of Industries Acts, and whether the Dundee office of the Board of Trade, recently closed, will now be reopened.]
§ LORD MANCROFTMy Lords, some decrease in employment in the jute industry must be expected to follow the reduction in the mark-up from 40 per cent. to 30 per cent. on the price of certain imported hessians; the industry would, however, have faced serious difficulties from competition of other materials even if the Government had taken no action. It is very difficult to estimate to what 107 extent employment is likely to be affected. This depends on a variety of factors, including how far manufacturers are able to reduce their costs and diversify their production.
The Government intend to continue and to intensify their efforts to encourage manufacturers to establish new industries in Dundee and to create new employment opportunities in the area. It is not necessary for this purpose to reopen the Board's district office in Dundee since the main work in this field in the Dundee area has always been carried out by the Board's chief Scottish office, in Glasgow, working in conjunction with the Board of Trade in London. The Board will meet any reasonable request to provide factory space for leasing to firms who will bring new employment opportunities into the area. Further, the Treasury will be ready, in appropriate cases, to make loans under Section 4 of the Distribution of Industry Act. 1945, to firms in this Development Area.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords. I am grateful to the noble Lord for his sympathetic reply, but is he aware that, owing to full employment in the jute industry, which is now being brought to an end, there has been very little extension in the Dundee industrial estate for a number of years, and that it will take some time to get it started again? Can the noble Lord say whether any new ground suitable for development under the Distribution of Industries Act has yet been agreed on; and will the Government give the highest priority to the acquisition and servicing of suitable ground, so that new factories may be persuaded to go there before unemployment becomes serious?
§ LORD MANCROFTMy Lords, I can assure my noble friend that Her Majesty's Government take this matter very seriously and will do everything possible to mitigate any hardship that may result.