ENTERPRISE ULSTER (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1973

HL Deb 10 July 1973 vol 344 cc723-7

7.16 p.m.

LORD BELSTEAD rose to move, That the Draft Enterprise Ulster (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, laid before the House on June 19, be approved. The noble Lord said: My Lords, the purpose of this Order is to establish on a statutory basis a direct labour organisation in Northern Ireland as one of a number of steps being taken to combat unemployment. The new organisation, which will have a life of at least five years, will carry the name of a successful non-statutory pilot project, Enterprise Ulster, which will be run by a board drawn from the community at large. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who have been running the non-statutory pilot project so far. This body will now be charged with the task of creating employment in Northern Ireland by promoting work of —in the words of the Order—environ- mental, amenity, cultural, community or social value. It will thus not only be offering those at present unemployed the prospect of steady jobs, but, by enhancing the environment, should improve the quality of life for everyone in Northern Ireland. In other words, it is envisaged as a true community enterprise.

May I draw the attention of the House to one article only—Article 4—although I shall of course attempt to answer any observations or questions from noble Lords. That is the heart of the Order and it sets out the objectives and functions of the new body. The necessary powers have been drawn in such a way that Enterprise Ulster will have the flexibility to exploit employment opportunities as they arise in the fields of activity defined in the Order. Its main role will obviously be that of a large employer—recruiting, training and, above all, providing steady employment for men who would otherwise be unemployed. It should also constitute a valuable source of trained labour for industry. However, in addition to undertaking work directly itself, it will be able to give assistance, financial or otherwise, to bodies which wish to carry out schemes of work in the amenity field and in so doing to create employment. The Order deals with other things which Enterprise Ulster can do. It can delegate work and it can also indulge in research. It is in the spirit of the wide and flexible powers which Article 4 gives to Enterprise Ulster, to enable it to tackle effectively the problem of unemployment in Northern Ireland, that I commend the Order to the House. My Lords, I beg to move.

Moved, That the Draft Enterprise Ulster (Northern Ireland) Order 1973, laid before the House on June 19, be approved.—(Lord Belstead.)

7.18 p.m.

LORD SHACKLETON

My Lords, we wholeheartedly welcome this Order, which perhaps ought to be called Public Enterprise Ulster. One of the ironies about the noble Lord, Lord Moyola, and others who have operated in Northern Ireland, is the extent to which the Unionists were prepared to go in for Socialist solutions which would otherwise be regarded as a deplorable interference with private enterprise. Here is a quite striking example. The direct labour system has in the past been condemned by Conservatives as an inefficient and expensive way of doing things, but I am very gratified to see that when confronted with the realities of Northern Ireland Ministers rise above such prejudices—perhaps prejudices are less on the Government Front Bench in this House—and adopt a proposal which I think is clearly in the interests of Northern Ireland.

I am just a little worried at the extent to which more is expected of this Order than in fact will be achieved. I should like to pay tribute to those who have pioneered the pilot scheme; and it is extremely important that the enthusiasm which one will find in a scheme of this kind should be given full scope and that the Government and, it may well be, the new Assembly—we have not got any Assemblymen left here; our one Assemblyman has gone—should ensure that there is real continuity in this matter. I have always been inclined to think that both sides, politically, have on occasion attached too much importance to one particular type of ownership as opposed to the motivations which go into it. Clearly you will get an enthusiastic, driving public enterprise of this kind, and clearly the enthusiasm in the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Belstead, will be reflected in those who are going to run this very interesting experiment.

Even so, there have been one or two criticisms that it will be impinging on the field of private enterprise, and obviously there is a danger that, gradually, it will be found that in certain areas individual contractors and others will say, "We can do it more cheaply". It is important that they should have a really good run at this. Perhaps the noble Lord can tell us how far they will be able to discharge their training function as a reservoir for industry. I am not quite clear. They talk about recruiting from the unemployed. I am not sure how far there will be skilled activities. Clearly a certain amount of the work will in fact be labouring, which calls for skills to-day —the operation of machinery and so on. I also notice there are powers to do research. Altogether it is an ambitious project, and one which I am quite sure we all wish well. I hope that it will also be able to build up enough good will in Northern Ireland to be regarded as something in which people have pride in the same way as they have pride in various public and voluntary bodies; and that they will in fact succeed also—this is quite obvious, and I think must be implicit in what is proposed—in working with other organisations, whether they are local authority, Government or volunteer organisations. A great deal of the work on the amenity side will not bring them against amenity organisations —naturalist trusts, conservation volunteers and so on—but they may be able to lend great strength. We know that the conservation volunteers are doing a great deal of work in this country, but obviously a certain under-pinning by a public authority, perhaps bringing skilled men and machinery into helping to clear a particular area, could be very valuable indeed.

My Lords, the noble Lord need not reply to my earlier teases if he does not want to. I say only that we strongly support this proposition and certainly wish the new Enterprise Ulster a great deal of success and a very long life.

7.24 p.m.

LORD BELSTEAD

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for the interest which he takes in being here when both these Orders are introduced at the end of what, for him, has been quite a long day. Perhaps I could answer the noble Lord in this way. The estimate, of course, is that the future of Enterprise Ulster, as seen at the moment of introducing this Order, will be five years, for which £15 million has been earmarked. I would hope that the Article in the Order providing for reports to go to the Assembly will give some continuity—the thing which the noble Lord put his finger on—and will show people who are in public life in Northern Ireland how Enterprise Ulster is getting on; and, if they feel that certain things are perhaps not going along the lines that they hoped they would, this will be seen from the reports.

Lastly, on the specific points which the noble Lord made about a training function and also getting on with other people who are in the same field, perhaps I could draw the noble Lord's attention once again to the power which Enterprise Ulster will have under, I think it is, Article 4 to give help to other organisations which are working in the same field. I think the sort of thing which is envisaged is where Enterprise Ulster might wish to grant aid—and this can be up to 50 per cent.—to a voluntary body like, for instance, a tenants' association, which might well have plans but not the financial resources to get them started. On the other hand, Enterprise Ulster might want to go into co-operation with a local authority carrying on direct labour; and in this sense, not only will Enterprise Ulster have enough powers to see that it can get on in sensible cooperation with other people working in the same field, but it will also be able to bring to bear its good offices to improve the training and expertise of those who are working in environmental work. I hope that, with those few words of explanation, the House will agree to the passing of this Order.

On Question, Motion agreed to.