Manufacturing (Hansard, 15 June 1994)

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) pursuant to his oral statement of 24 May,Official Report, column 183, what has been the change in employment in manufacturing since 1979; what is his estimate of how many jobs have been lost (a) because of lack of training, (b) lack of investment and (c) other non-price factors.
(2) what consideration he has given, in drawing up his White Paper, "Competitiveness: Helping Business to Win" to the reasons for the change in the number of jobs in manufacturing industry since 1973; and if he will publish his estimate of the number of such jobs which have been lost as a result of (a) the change in the real exchange rate, (b) a poorly trained work force, (c) insufficient investment and (d) inefficient management.

§ Mr. Sainsbury
There has been a general decline in manufacturing employment in the developed world for many years. Since 1979, manufacturing employment in the United Kingdom has fallen by 3 million. Factors behind the decline include major improvements in productivity and the classification of jobs where activities such as transport are contracted out.

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assumption he made about the desirable level of output per man on United Kingdom manufacturing industry relative to that in(a) the USA, (b) Germany and (c) Japan in drawing up the White Paper "Competitiveness: Helping Business to Win".

§ Mr. Sainsbury
The White Paper on competitiveness makes clear that United Kingdom industry must continually improve its productivity if it is to prosper in the increasingly competitive world marketplace. During the 1980s, output per man in United Kingdom manufacturing grew more quickly than in the USA, Germany or Japan.

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his latest estimate of the total number of workers employed in(a) Japanese, (b) French, (c) German and (d) American-owned manufacturing plants in Britain.

§ Mr. Sainsbury
The latest information refers to 1991 and is listed in the "Report on the Census of Production", summary volume, table 18, Business Monitor PA 1002, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the President of the Board of Trade further to his White Paper "Competitiveness: Helping Business to Win", what assessment he has made of the reason for the change since 1990 in the output of United Kingdom industries engaged in producing internationally traded goods; and what was the percentage of change from the recent peak to the present day.

§ Mr. Sainsbury
Industrial production in April was slightly below its June 1990 peak, but was 1.7 per cent. above the average for 1990 as a whole and 8 per cent. higher than its trough in May 1992. In the latest three months, industrial production in the United Kingdom rose by 4.5 per cent. compared to a year earlier, while in Germany it rose by less than 2 per cent. and fell in France, Italy and Japan. The recovery in industrial production shows the benefit of low inflation, low interest rates and sound public finances.