§ 51. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that the November unemployment figures disclosed the highest number of unemployed during November for three years; to what extent the Scottish figures are better or worse than those for the rest of Great Britain; and whether he will state the action he has taken or intends taking to improve the employment situation in Scotland.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellYes, the figure of over 99,000 unemployed in Scotland in November, which involves a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate 1¾ times that for Great Britain as a whole, is particularly severe but not unexpected given the trend evident when we took office. The figure of 93,000 in July was the highest July figure for seven years. This is one of the reasons for our making changes in the system of investment incentives designed to secure an improvement in the rate of growth of the economy and, in particular, to create new employment in the development areas.