§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what factors account for the decline in output of the textile, footwear, metal goods, motor vehicle and mechancial engineering industries since 1979; and in which other countries there has been a comparable decline.
§ Mr. RedwoodThe period 1979–88 has witnessed rapid structural change both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Some industries have experienced a rise in output while in others output has fallen. The changes reflect the shifting pattern of demand, the changing nature of international competition, and the ability of individual countries to respond to these developments. Such structural change is an integral part of the process by which economies develop and grow.
The pattern of structural change has not been very different in the United Kingdom from that in other major industrial countries. Thus, according to published OECD data, output of textiles, footwear and metal products all fell in at least several of the major seven OECD countries over the period 1979–88 and in no case did the United Kingdom suffer the greatest reduction. The OECD includes mechanical engineering in the wider category of non-electrical machinery, United Kingdom output of which rose at a rate broadly comparable with that of the other major European countries. Only in motor vehicles was United Kingdom output growth over the period 1979–88 significantly below that of all the other major OECD countries. However, the decline in United Kingdom motor vehicles output was reversed in the mid-1980s and prospects for further recovery are excellent.