§ Lord MolloyMy 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 whether they will consider meeting representatives of the management and workforce of Hoover Limited of Perivale, Middlesex, in an endeavour to see how that company may be assisted to prevent its closure.
The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earl Ferrers)My Lords, while the Government greatly regret the loss of jobs at Perivale, the organisation of Hoover's manufacturing activities is a matter for the commercial judgment of the company. The Manpower Services Commission will do all it can to help those who will be made redundant, but a meeting such as the noble Lord suggests would not be appropriate.
§ Lord MolloyMy Lords, is the noble Earl aware that for many thousands of families in West London his reply will be a great disappointment because Hoover Limited has been an industrial landmark for decades contributed to by those families since early after the First World War? Would he not at least be prepared to consider that, in so far as the ordinary folk in this area have contributed to the nation and to Hoover, perhaps a helping hand from the Government, even at this late stage, would be much appreciated?
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I realise that the Hoover works, as the noble Lord has said, has been an industrial landmark for many years. However, it is not the duty of the Government to interfere in the commercial decisions of a company, however much the Government may regret the circumstances which bring them about. What we can do is to help regarding deployment of the people—which is done by the Manpower Services Commission. As I indicated in my original Answer, that is what the Government are doing.
§ Lord MolloyMy Lords, is the noble Earl aware that we have had the submission he has just made in respect of the 3 million who are already on the dole and the Government have not been very successful in their endeavours to find alternative employment? I am not asking for interference in the company's affairs, but I would ask the Government to make an endeavour to take away one aspect of the bitterness that prevails in West London; namely, that it is the multi-national aspect of the situation that grieves them, and in as much as another Government—that of the United 1034 States—may be involved, the British ought to have the pluck to stand by British workers to see if they can make a contribution to saving this great firm. It has done so much for the American economy and so much for the British economy and it might have much still to give. I ask the Government not to interfere but to consider whether they can make a contribution.
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I have explained that the Government have considered whether they can make a contribution and how best they can make it. I can only say that when an industrial company has lost £2.75 million in the last year and £13 million in the first nine months of this year it is bound to have to take strident measures, many of them unacceptable, to deal with that position. When the noble Lord refers to the internationality of the problem, I would remind him that the recession in which we are all involved is an international one which affects other countries as well as ourselves.
§ Lord Cledwyn of PenrhosMy Lords, if the situation in Perivale is serious, the situation in Merthyr Tydfil, where Hoover also have a large plant, is infinitely more serious. As the noble Earl will be well aware the unemployment figure in Wales is extraordinarily grave at the present time. Can the noble Earl say what steps are being taken by the National Enterprise Board—which his Government have largely emasculated—in relation to Hoover nationally, and what steps the Welsh Development Agency are taking in Wales to assist those who have been made redundant and unemployed in the Merthyr Tydfil area?
Earl FerrersMy Lords, there are some 2,430 people employed by Hoover in the Merthyr Tydfil area, of whom some 400 will be made redundant. The same services will be offered by the Government in that case as in the case of Hoover in Perivale.