HC Deb 29 January 1992 vol 202 cc620-1W
20. Mr. McKelvey

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken in connection with the proposed closure of British Steel Ravenscraig since 13 January.

Mr. Lang

In addition to the very substantial additional resources, already announced, through Scottish Enterprise, for Lanarkshire development agency, formal notification was made to the European Commission on 23 January of the United Kingdom Government's proposals to designate an enterprise zone in North Lanarkshire.

29. Mr. McAvoy

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has as to the effect of the closure of Ravenscraig on the unemployment rate in adjacent areas.

Mr. Allan Stewart

My Department's current best estimate of the local impact of the closure, and associated job losses announced by British Steel on 8 January 1992, is that an increase of less than one percentage point, on a work force basis, in the Lanarkshire travel-to-work area unemployment rate could be anticipated in the medium term. This increase is additional to the impact associated with the earlier steel job loss announcements made in 1991.

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