§ Sir W. Darlingasked the Minister of Labour if, in view of the fact that at 14th January, 1946, the total unemployed in Scotland was 63,681, he will state the industries and areas in which they occurred; and what steps are proposed to enable Scottish enterprise to further full employment.
§ Mr. Isaacs:The Tables below give the information asked for in the first part of the Question:
Numbers of insured persons suitable for ordinary employment, registered as unemployed in Scotland at 14th January, 1946, distinguishing the principal industries. Industry. Number of insured persons unemployed Building 1,462 Civil Engineering Construction 1,666 Shipbuilding and ship repairing 3,005 Engineering, etc. 9,812 Motor Vehicles, Cycles and Aircraft. 4,137 Explosives 4,253 Steel Melting and Iron Puddling, Iron and Steel Rolling, etc. 1,260 Hotel, Boarding House, Restaurant, Club, Catering, etc. Service 1,832 Tramway and Omnibus Service 860 Fishing 821 Shipping Service 828 Coalmining 2,150 Distributive Trades 4,749 National Government Service 3,738 Local Government Service 1,594 Agriculture, Horticulture, etc. 866 All Other Industries and Services 14,002 Ex-Service Personnel not classified by industry*. 6,646 *These are ex-service personnel who at July,1945 had not been classified to a particular industry. They may have had some employment since release or discharge from the Forces.
51W
Numbers of insured persons suitable for ordinary employment, registered as unemployed at Employment Exchanges in the principal towns in Scotland at 14th January, 1946. Town Number o insured persons unemployed. Aberdeen 1,695 Airdrie 1,361 Ayr 754 Bathgate 531 Cambuslang 475 Clydebank 932 Coatbridge 1,881 Cowdenbeath 610 Dumbarton 680 Dundee 2,892 Edinburgh 2,837 Falkirk 1,318 Glasgow (including Rutherglen) 18,985 Greenock 1,981 Hamilton 1,865 Irvine 665 Johnstone 590 Kilmarnock 1,321 Kirkcaldy 409 Leven and Methil 752 Motherwell and Wishaw 2,979 New Milns 409 Paisley 1,549 Peterhead 435 Port Glasgow 500 Shotts 437 Stevenston 440 Stornoway 1,552 Uddingston 407 Wick 589 Rest of Scotland 11,850 As to the last part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, to his Question on 3rd December last year. Since then approval has been given to a further 75 industrial building projects which will employ an additional 10,000 persons in Scotland. I would also refer the hon. Member to an article which appeared in the Board of Trade Journal, dated 16th February, outlining the industrial developments that are taking place in Scotland. Scottish industrialists have equal opportunities with others to display their enterprise and I hope that they will avail themselves of the facilities provided under the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, to expand existing undertakings and introduce new industrial units in Scotland.