WORLD UNEMPLOYMENT CONFERENCE (Hansard, 23 June 1976)

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what conclusions were reached at the World Unemployment Conference and what proposals the British delegation made.

§ Lord JACQUES
I think that shows a great willingness! My Lords, the World Employment Conference concluded its session on 17th June. Its conclusions and report have not yet been published. However, the speech which my honourable friend the Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment made to the conference on 11th June outlined the attitude of Her Majesty's Government to the issues under discussion. A copy of the speech has been placed in the Library.

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, while thanking my noble friend the Minister for that reply, may I ask him whether, even if the conclusions have not been 296 published in official form, they have been widely reported? Is my noble friend aware that many of us welcome the decisions, in contrast with those of other conferences? I have two questions that I should like to put separately to my noble friend. First, what was the attitude of the British delegation when the representatives of the developing countries and of the workers, including the Trades Union Congress, proposed that the conference should consider the employment implications of world economic conditions and the expansion of multinational companies, a proposal opposed by the employers and Governments in the West?

§ Lord JACQUES
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Brockway and very glad that he is pleased with the general outcome. The conference finally adopted a compromise document which the United Kingdom and all other delegates accepted. The document to some extent differed from the original report, Employment, Growth and Basic Needs, but substantially affirmed its agreement with the basic needs approach in the report.
On the subject of multinational companies, the position of Her Majesty's Government was made very clear. I quote: We strongly support the valuable work which is being initiated in the United Nations Commission on Transnational Corporations, including the voluntary codes of conduct. We also welcome the work done in the ILO on the employment and social aspects of the multinationals. I would also add that the nine nations in the European Economic Community were in line with the speech and the voting of the United Kingdom.

§ Lord BYERS
My Lords, I wonder whether we might now have the Answer from the noble Lord, Lord Goronwy Roberts, to the same Question.

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, may I ask my second question?

Lord CAMPBELL of CROY
My Lords, have the Government any comments or proposals to make today upon the announcement of an increase in unemployment in Britain of 60,000 in the past month?

§ Lord JACQUES
Yes, my Lords, I can comment on that. If the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, will look at the winding-up speech I made a fortnight ago today, he will find I stated that there would be a lag before unemployment figures reduced because of the action taken by the Government themselves in preserving jobs during the last 18 months.

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, while thanking my noble friend the Minister for his very full reply, may I put my second question. What was the attitude of the British Government to the instruction to the ILO to organise with other United Nations bodies a world survey on the nature, extent and cost of poverty ?

§ Lord JACQUES
My Lords, I regret that I am unable to answer that question. I suggest that my noble friend reads the speech made by my honourable friend and then follows it up.