§ 34. Mr. David MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to reduce unemployment in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Allan StewartThere has been a fall of 6,600 in seasonally adjusted unemployment in Scotland over the past year. The Government will continue to pursue sound monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies to reduce inflation, and to promote investment, enterprise and the recovery of economic growth. This is the best means of reducing unemployment. Moreover, for those without a job, there is a wide range of employment and training measures available, particularly for the young and long-term unemployed, to help them back into employment.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the number of job losses in the period 1 June 1990 to 1 February 1991 in(a) the Greenock travel-to-work area, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Allan StewartInformation in the form requested is not available. There are no comprehensive statistics on redundancies. The following table shows the number of confirmed redundancies involving 10 or more workers notified to the Employment Department from June 1990 to January 1991 for the areas requested.
Confirmed redundancies1 2 June 1990 to January 1991 Greenock TTWA Strathclyde region Scotland 1990 June Nil 383 1,007 July Nil 533 981 August Nil 111 560 September Nil 281 683 October Nil 615 1,115 November Nil 326 1,439 December Nil 244 1,086 1991 January Nil 113 370 Total Nil 2,606 7,241 1 All figures are provisional. 2 For a variety of reasons, not all redundancies are notified to the Employment Department, and not all those that are notified are eventually confirmed. Job losses, however, should not be viewed in isolation: in any dynamic economy, jobs are also being continually created. Over the latest year for which figures are available (to September 1990), the civilian work force in employment in Scotland increased by 48,000, or by over 900 per week.