HC Deb 02 April 1979 vol 965 cc461-3W
Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his answer of 24 July 1978, Official Report, column 585, he will publish the figures for the numbers employed in the manufacturing and service sectors in Scotland in each year since 1976.

Mr. Gregor MacKenzie

Estimates of employment in Scotland in the manufacturing and service sectors from June 1976 to June 1978 are given in the table below. The figures for 1977 and 1978 are provisional and are subject to revision when the results of the 1977 census of employment become available.

Manufacturing Thousands Services
June 1976 608.0 1,179.0
June 1977 613.0 1,187.0
June 1978 611.0 1,192.0

Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his answer of 8 December 1978, Official Report, column 842, he will publish the latest figures for employment in the construction industry in Scotland.

Mr. Gregor MacKenzie

In September 1978 some 166,900 people were employed in the construction industry in Scotland. This figure is a provisional estimate and is subject to revision when the results for the 1977 census of employment become available.

Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 12 December 1977, Official Report, column 99, what is the most recent estimate of the number of jobs in the small business sector of the Scottish economy; and what proportion this represents of total employment in Scotland.

Mr. Gregor MacKenzie

The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, some indication can be had from the annual censuses of employment which provide information relating to individual work places rather than to complete businesses. The census unit, which is the basic unit reporting information, is normally a complete individual, address such as a shop, office or factory. The branches of multiple firms thus constitute separate units. In some cases there can be more than one census unit for a single address.

The table below shows the annual census of employment units with under 200 employees—covering all industries and services except agriculture, horticulture and private domestic service—with addresses in Scotland in June 1976. Total employment in these units accounted for 57 per cent. of the total number of employees in employment in Scotland in June 1976.

Size Range Total Labour Force thousands
1–10 employees 2730
11–49 employees 457.4
50–199 employees 460.3
Total 1,190.7

Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his answer of 18 July 1978, Official Report, column 161, he will list any incoming firms developing in Scotland in the past 12 months: how many jobs have been produced; and what are the comparative figures for each of the years 1970 to 1977.

Mr. Gregor MacKenzie

Information as requested for the years 1970 to 1972 is not readily available. The number of new manufacturing units opening in Scotland with an origin outside Scotland in the years 1973 to 1977, and their latest available employment is:

Number of Units Employment
1973 27 1,600
1974 21 800
1975 21 800
1976–77 7 300

Note: Figures for 1976 and 1977 are amalgamated for confidentiality reasons.

These figures include only manufacturing units employing at least 11 people and since there is no statutory requirement for new units to notify my Department of their existence the coverage will be incomplete. In particular, the statistics from 1975 will be liable to revision upwards. The employment figures reflect units operating at early stages in their development.

On the same basis, the following nine units from outside Scotland are known to my Department to have established in Scotland over the past 12 months.

  • Roche Products, Dalry
  • Mitsubishi, Haddington
  • Burroughs, Livingston
  • E. Lee & Co., Donibristle
  • MFE, Livingston
  • Orla Springs, Cumbernauld
  • P. F. Doggett & Co., Tillicoultry
  • Abbey Chemicals, Livingston
  • Sauder Industries, Cumbemauld

These projects are expected to create around 1,200 new jobs, but many of the

£ million
1973 1974 1975
Grants Loans Grants Loans Grants Loans
European regional development fund† 9.852
FEOGA 1.910 2.233 2.464
European social fund† 8.5
European investment bank‡ 14.4 73.3

1976 1977 1978
Grants Loans Grants Loans Grants Loans
European regional development fund* 14.607 13.928 24.826
FEOGA 4.285 2.021 1.419
European social fund† 8.5 15.1 14.85
European investment bank‡ 48.74 103.9 61.15
* The ERDF was set up in 1975. The figure given for 1977 on 24 July 1978—Official Report, column 591—was £15.8 million but, owing to the withdrawal of some projects, this subsequently became £13.9 million.
† For the early years of the ESF it is not possible to allocate amounts specifically to Scotland. From 1975 onwards most of the allocation from the ESF has been in respect of United Kingdom schemes and the figures given are estimates of the Scottish share.
‡ It is not possible to estimate the amount relevant to Scotland of a global loan received by the United Kingdom from the EIB in 1973. The figures given for 1974 onwards relate to specific Scottish projects; in addition there have been a number of loans for United Kingdom projects where the share of expenditure in Scotland cannot be identified with any precision.