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Mr. Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston): The House will know that my constituency includes part of the city of Chester, as does the constituency of the right hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad), the Government Chief Whip.
The hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth) has mentioned the importance of Manchester airport twice. Does he agree that, as mentioned in the previous debate, rail links to Manchester airport and improved links on the west coast main line are desperately needed as part of the transport infrastructure? Does he agree with companies such as Shell and Kemira, which are both based in part in the city of Chester, which say that they could greatly improve their businesses and the environment through greater access to the railways?
Mr. Brandreth:
I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. There is no doubt at all that having a quality transport infrastructure is essential to the continuing success of our part of the world. Indeed, I shall refer that in a moment.
The traditional twin pillars of retailing and tourism in Chester have been boosted by the emergence of a much-needed third pillar--commerce. Of course, retail and tourism remain vital to us. In the city centre in recent years, significant retailing investment has been made by Marks and Spencer plc--with more to come, I am pleased to say, on its Foregate street premises--by Littlewoods, C. and A., BhS, Argos, Grosvenor Estate Holdings, Liberty Properties Ltd., Refuge Assurance plc, Scottish Widows, as well as new arrivals such as HMV and the Virgin megastore.
We have seen a growth in tourism. Six million people visit Chester. We have had many motorised visitors in the past few days because the Network Q Royal Automobile Club rally has been racing through Chester at a most bodacious speed.
How have we achieved our successes to date? Key elements are clearly the quality of the people, the place and the communications infrastructure, and the determination of the local community to see Chester thrive. The word "partnership" is used all too glibly by politicians these days, but in Chester we have a very real and active partnership. It has been developed over a number of years and is a partnership for the future founded on an understanding of Chester's special needs and a commitment to protect its interests while moving forward into the next century.
The partnership that has come together to work on the Chester action programme includes the chamber of trade, the chamber of commerce, the Chester, Ellesmere Port and Wirral training and enterprise council, the business club, the civic trust, the cathedral, housing associations, the economic development forum, the voluntary sector organisations, the environmental forum, the Chester hoteliers association, the Chester and Ellesmere Port enterprise agency, the Rural Development Commission, and, of course, the county council and the city council.
I underline the admiration that I and others have for all the people who are giving time and energy to that work-- notably, from the city council, the chief executive Paul Durham and the head of economic development unit Barbara Mothershaw.
As well as the people I have mentioned, those involved with the partnership include a wide range of people involved in businesses of all kinds large and small. Under my chairmanship, we have been getting together at a series of meetings that we have called the Chester jobs summit. At those meetings, we have been looking at ways in which we can make our city even more successful and ensure more and better employment--sustained and real--for those in our community.
As a result of the Chester jobs summits, we have had a series of meetings with Ministers to tackle specific issues, ranging from the future of the Army pay and personnel centre at Queen's Park to the vital need to make rapid progress on improving the essential rail links between Crewe and Chester and beyond. I am glad that the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Mr. Miller) raised that issue, and especially glad that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport addressed it head on in the previous debate on the Queen's Speech.
Earlier this year, as a result of the jobs summit initiative, we met the Minister of State, Department of Employment, as she then was--my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone (Miss Widdecombe)--and my hon. Friend the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Energy, as he still is. The firms remain small, but his stature grows as the weeks go by. He subsequently visited our business link in Chester.
The issues we raised concerned employment opportunities in Chester in general, and employment training in particular. We want an extension in the training available for adults returning to work. We want an increase in employment training for disabled people, and we want more concerted action to deal with the particular problems of those who have been unemployed for a long time.
The Chester action partnership wants to establish an enterprise fund to help new and small businesses to develop, and to retain vital technological skills in our area.
I am delighted to say that, as a result of the meetings I have mentioned, a two-person team has been seconded to us by the Government office for the north-west.
Mr. Miller:
The importance of technology in the area cannot be understated, and I hope that the Minister will respond on that point. Last week, I had the privilege of chairing a conference organised by CEWTEC, the local training agency which was referred to by the hon. Member for City of Chester (Mr. Brandreth). It encompasses companies from the Wirral and Chester which specialise in the development of information technology in their industry. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we need greater emphasis on this part of Chester's potential from all players in the community, and, indeed, from the Government?
Mr. Brandreth:
Yes, I agree with the hon. Gentleman. One of the developments I look to see is greater diversity in the economic life of the community. In that regard, I salute British Nuclear Fuels plc, which is looking at ways in which to produce the seedbed for allied small businesses. It is looking at different ways in which to extend its product development centre, IES, and other projects. I endorse what the hon. Gentleman says.
Another achievement of the Chester action programme and the jobs summit initiative is that we played a part in securing the single regeneration budget challenge fund for regeneration in west Chester. Already it has been a real success. There have been 14 new business starts, the creation of a community business and the creation of 10 jobs. Assistance has been given to 19 voluntary organisations and 300 or more students, and young people are benefiting from projects to enhance personal development.
At the most recent meeting of the jobs summit, the chief executive of the Chester, Ellesmere Port and Wirral training and enterprise council, Alan Moody, brought us his report on the economic prospects, as he saw them, for Chester and as a survey had revealed them to be. In general, the Chester area economy is the most vibrant of the three in the CEWTEC area. That reflects the concentration within it of the rapidly expanding financial services sector to which I referred and of tourism, which is benefiting from a growing trend towards short-break holidays and from the essential quality of a visit to Chester.
The manufacturing base in Chester has suffered, despite the high-tech focus. That reflects the dependence on the aerospace industry, which has suffered from the ending of the cold war and from the intense competition for civil aircraft orders.
Business confidence is generally high in Chester. Some 63 per cent. of the firms surveyed by CEWTEC expected turnover to be higher next year than this, against 7 per cent. who expected it to be lower. Some 48 per cent. of the businesses surveyed expected to increase investment next year, which is good news, whereas only 5 per cent. thought that they would reduce their investment levels.
The major single constraint on the development of businesses in Chester is the shortage of suitable finance. Interestingly, that was cited by 32 per cent. of the 202 businesses surveyed, and we must address that issue.
Many firms in the survey with financial constraints appeared not to have business plans. Such plans must be seen as an obvious prerequisite, not only to identifying
the amount of finance required but to raising that finance. This could well be an area in which business link and CEWTEC can play a role, and I know that they want to see that possibility developed further.
There is no doubt that, in common with many cities-- but perhaps contrary to the popular image of the city-- Chester has pockets of high long-term unemployment, particularly male unemployment. This is a matter of concern to CEWTEC, the Minister and me. There is no doubt that we need to attract more development and create jobs for men in particular, as well as for managers and mature professionals. We need to encourage young men to come on to the job market with greater skills.
It is worth pointing out that CEWTEC told me that, in terms of foundation skills, the achievement of young people in Chester is better than the national average. CEWTEC deserves to be saluted for what it has achieved in recent years. From being one of the lowest-performing areas in 1990, our area has grown into one of the most successful, with end-of-year results showing significant increases in skill levels achieved through training. A total of 1,352 young people, an 8 per cent. increase, and 1,770 adults, an increase of one third, achieved NVQs, so I hope that we are moving in the right direction.
Comparative performance figures issued recently for the 81 TECs across the country showed substantial improvements, particularly in achieving value for money. The figures showed that CEWTEC is among the best. There has been a 36 per cent. improvement in the number of school leavers obtaining NVQs through local training schemes, and CEWTEC helped 28 per cent. more adults to learn new skills and earn qualifications through its training for work programme.
CEWTEC is working with a wide range of people. To cite one would be invidious, but I do so nonetheless. One company in the area--Barratts of Chester--has recruited five trainees after being unable to take any in the previous two years. Those trainees are being provided with work through the Construction Industry Training Board, which is helping Chester construction companies to ensure that there is an adequate supply of properly trained people. There are currently 14 Chester trainees on their first-year programmes at the Mowlem training centre in Birkenhead and the West Cheshire college. Last year, there were only two trainees, so we are moving in the right direction.
We face challenges, and we have exciting opportunities. But Chester does not operate in isolation, and our achievements must be in the context of the national economy. There is no doubt that part of our achievement is in the context of our being in a world of sustained growth with low inflation. That is a real achievement, and allows businesses to plan to expand. One of the reasons for short-term attitudes to financing is uncertainty about the future.
If one lives in a world of high inflation and fluctuating interest rates, how can one plan for the future? One of the greatest achievements of the Government under this Prime Minister and this Chancellor has been to transform the situation, and that is one reason why I have such hope for the future.
I do my very best to avoid party politics at the jobs summit, but I am not so constrained here. One of the concerns put to me by people in my community-- particularly those in the retail and tourism industries--is the threat that they foresee from the social chapter and the
minimum wage. They see those measures as a threat because they have not been given any hard and detailed information from Opposition politicians about what they might involve, so all they can see is the worst of them.
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