§ 48. Sir E. Macleanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what consultations he is having with the appropriate bodies in Scotland about the net decrease of about 7,000 a year in jobs in Scotland in the last three years with a view to improving the position.
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§ Mr. RossI am constantly in touch with the Scottish Economic Planning Council and regularly seek the advice of other bodies concerned with economic development in Scotland about ways of making our economic policies as effective as possible.
The decline in total employment between 1967 and 1968 was proportionately less than in Great Britain as a whole; and all the major economic indications suggest that Scotland's relative position has significantly improved.
§ 66. Mr. MacArthurasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has now been made towards achieving the employment targets set out in Command Paper No. 2864, The Scottish Economy 1965–1970.
§ 74. Mr. Youngerasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the net increase in new jobs provided in Scotland since 1965; and whether this corresponds with the targets in the White Paper on the Scottish Economy, Command Paper No. 3864.
§ Mr. RossSo far as can be ascertained, the creation of new jobs has come up to expectation, but there has been a much faster run-down of employment in the older industries. Nevertheless, the latest unemployment rate in Scotland is now only 1½ times the Great Britain figure, as compared with more than twice the Great Britain figure in 1964.
§ Mr. Youngerasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress he has made in achieving the target of 60,000 net increase in persons in employment by 1970; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RossI would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave today to similar Questions by himself and the hon. Member for Perth and East Perthshire (Mr. MacArthur.