Problems of the North-East

Part of Civil Estimates, 1964–65 – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 16 July 1964.

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Photo of Mr William Stones Mr William Stones , Consett 12:00, 16 July 1964

I hope the noble Lord the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Viscount Lambton) will forgive me if I do not follow his argument very closely. I should, however, like to refer to one criticism that he made of the Labour Government in the years between 1945 and 1951. He said that we had made no plan for absorbing the available manpower when the coalmines closed down. I would remind the noble Lord that the six years of the Labour Government followed six years of the most devastating war in history. We changed from a war economy to a peacetime economy without the chaos that followed under Toryism after the First World War.

Many problems have been mentioned today, but the first problem confronting any society, whether it be in the North-East or elsewhere, is the provision of food and protection from the elements. It is necessary for any community to organise its resources and to set up a Government which will ensure at least the provision of these elementary requirements. It follows that members of the community should expect to be provided with the opportunity to work. Any Government must bear this fact in mind if the total resources of the community are to be utilised to the fullest advantage. I am not saying that we in the North-East have been denied the elementary provisions to which I have referred, but I am saying that the total resources of the North-East in men and material are not being utilised to the full. That is a disadvantage to the North-East and to the nation as a whole.

I have no desire to be guilty of tedious repetition or to bore the Committee with statistics, but I have represented a North-East constituency for years and I have drawn the attention of the Government to the fact that unemployment in the region is high. I agree that it is somewhat lower at the moment, but it is still double the national average, and the reduction in unemployment has resulted from the migration to which my hon. Friend the Member for Sunder land, North (Mr. Willey) has referred. Thousands have left the North-East to work elsewhere in order to enjoy the amenities and comforts that modern society can provide, rather than live on the backs of their friends who are in work, and be satisfied with the bare necessities of life. I understand that there are still 42,000 unemployed in the region and that the number of school leavers this year in the North-East amounts to 4,000. I believe that of those who left school at the end of the last school-leaving term 600 are still without work.

This situation exists despite the much-vaunted Hailsham plan for the North-East. That plan provided for growth zones, to the exclusion of a great part of the North-East. When the plan was introduced, we on this side of the House complained and suggested that there should be a national plan governing the national economy, and that if any region required guidance and greater opportunities it should be treated as a whole and not in part. Whatever benefits may have accrued to the North-East as a result of the Hailsham plan, I am afraid that very little material benefit has been felt outside of the growth zone. In spite of new jobs provided in the North-East in recent years, we are not keeping pace with the demand for employment. Ministers talk of jobs in the pipeline and in prospect, but very often there are serious leaks in the pipeline and the jobs do not materialise. We are not making real progress.

There are thousands of unemployed miners, engineers and constructional workers—a waste in skill if ever there was one. The situation would have been much worse had migration not occurred. If I may mention my own division, comparing the 1951 census with the 1961 census, there are 6,150 fewer people. The situation is much worse now as a result of the decline in the mining industry in my area. Hundreds have left the district in the last two years.

It seems that the Government are prepared to carry on with the present policy of migration instead of providing alternative employment. There is no development plan for Stanley which is in my constituency. The Ministry takes the view that in the light of the latest Government proposals, it is not possible to establish firm development policies for encouraging new employment in the North-East. Provision has been made by the Government for 3½ million people with 1 million immigrants expected, and many of them are expected from the North-East. Most of the jobs will be in manufacturing industries in the South-East. It seems that the Government's policy is to add to the present difficulty and congestion in these already congested areas. I know that we cannot expect a factory to be put at the end of every street or in every village, but I believe in a greater dispersal of industry in every region. Concentration of industry means greater traffic problems on our already overcrowded roads, aggravated in certain districts by rail closures, and this means that it takes more time for workers to travel to and from their employment at an extra cost.

At the North-East Development Conference, in reply to a question, the Minister said that the plan would provide for the whole of the region including North-West and West Durham. Two or three weeks ago when I asked whether there was any plan for advance factories in my division I was given the answer, "None at all". That was a contradiction of the earlier reply that had been given. When we complain of the disadvantages of being outside a growth zone, the Minister falls back on the fact that we are still regarded as a development district. Words are not sufficient. We want development. We want new industries and further development.

Up to the present we in the Consett division have had very few new jobs provided. I know that the unemployment figures are down, but this is because of migration, and the situation will certainly worsen when there are further mine closures, whether partial or whole. For the younger people migration from the area is probably not so serious, but for men 50 years of age, probably with chest conditions resulting from many years in the mines, it is very serious to be made redundant. It is not right to expect those people to migrate.

If we are to prevent this situation becoming further aggravated in the North-East, the national economy must be so geared that it can expand constantly and continuously, rather than spasmodically. It is wrong to expect workers in the North-East who have lost their jobs to migrate, and I am sure that most people will agree that work should be provided for them in their area. I have no desire to enter into a wrangle as to which part of the North-East should get the most benefit from the North-East Plan. I wish to see a reasonable level of industrial activity maintained outside the growth zone, particularly in North-West and West Durham.

If we are to avoid the problems of declining industries and automation—and I am sure that automation is necessary for many industries in the North-East—the Government, Tory or Labour, must apply their minds to providing work for redundant workers, not 200 miles away but where they live. To do this the Government must be very firmly instrumental in issuing industrial development certificates. Every effort must be made to encourage industries to go to the North-East, even if this means a greater financial inducement than already provided. When workers are required to leave one industry for another we must extend retraining facilities as far as possible. I know that we are now making progress in regard to technical colleges, and these are essential to enable persons to acquire the necessary skill. If the Government can do anything at all to assist the Tyneside in the building of a new "Queen" this will be very greatly appreciated.

We have long expected a new power station in the North-East. We are told that Durham coal can be utilised where-ever the power station can be erected. We would feel much more sure of that market if we had the power station built in the North-East. As these things depend largely on steel, our steel industry, which I am glad to say has now recovered to a large degree, would also benefit.

The first requirements in the North-East are industry and employment. We are told how necessary it is that we should improve our lines of communication, roads, etc., where necessary, to make the countryside more attractive to industrialists. This means large expansion, and the authorities outside the growth zone are not quite sure whether large sums of public money expended in such a way would have the return that is expected. At least some guarantee should be given to them that industrial development and fuller employment would result in the not too distant future. The authorities in the growth zones have these guarantees.

I urge the Government to set at rest the minds of the local authorities outside the growth zones by planning not just for the growth zones but for the whole of the Northern region.