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Inward Investment
10. Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield): If he will make a statement on the current levels of inward investment to Scotland. [76315]
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Donald Dewar): In the year to March 1998, Locate in Scotland and the Scottish Office helped to attract to Scotland a total of 87 inward investment projects, involving planned investment of just over £1 billion and the expected creation or safeguarding of nearly 18,000 jobs. The jobs figure is at a higher level than at any time in Locate in Scotland's 18-year history.
Mr. Winterton: Does the Secretary of State agree that, under the previous Conservative Government, inward investment in Scotland was absolutely massive? Does he agree also that, under a Labour Government, unemployment is going up in Scotland; that, this month, it is likely to be up for the third month running; and that, this year alone, more than 4,000 jobs have been lost in Scotland? Does he believe that the Chancellor's Budget--which penalises lower-income and less well-off families in Scotland--will help? Does he believe that the SNP's raising taxes by 1p more than in the rest of United Kingdom would not have an adverse affect on smaller business?
Mr. Dewar: I have just explained that Locate in Scotland has had a record year. I hope that that success will continue. I pay tribute to the contribution that inward investment has made to management skills and to broadening the base of the economy. It accounts for 29 per cent. of employment in manufacturing industry. I hope that there will be further good news on inward investment shortly.
The hon. Gentleman is being selective about unemployment. At 5.5 per cent., the claimant count is at its lowest for about 20 years. Youth unemployment has almost halved. Unemployment in many constituencies in Scotland is very much lower than it was in February 1996, when I think the Conservatives were in office. To take a random example, in Banff and Buchan, unemployment fell by 42 per cent. between February 1996 and February 1999. That trend is true for all the constituencies represented by the Scottish National party. I am very happy to recognise that and say how satisfactory it is. We want to continue that record, not go back to the days of the Conservative Government.
Mr. David Marshall (Glasgow, Shettleston):
Does my right hon. Friend agree that Locate in Scotland and
Mr. Dewar:
I understand that the SNP is advocating that Locate in Scotland should be taken into the civil service and should be answerable directly to Ministers. That is what has been reported to me. If it is not true, no doubt I shall be told. That is a remarkably centralising policy that would result in the input of business and commerce in the form of the Scottish Enterprise board being lost. I understand that the Scottish nationalists are also proposing that a majority of those in the local enterprise companies should be Members of the Scottish Parliament or local authority elected members. There should be a proper partnership, using the experience and entrepreneurial skills of Scottish industry, not the centralised arrangements that the SNP proposes. My hon. Friend is right to point to the success of Locate in Scotland. We are anxious for that success to continue.
Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset):
I am sure that the whole House will congratulate Locate in Scotland on its excellent figures last year. Has the Secretary of State noticed that unemployment continued to go down rapidly when the Government came to power, before they had changed any of the Conservative Government's policies? Has he also noticed that unemployment has gone up in Scotland in the past three months? If he has not noticed that, he ought to. What does he propose to do about the fact that jobs and investment are moving away from Scotland? He cannot just rely on a good Conservative record.
Mr. Dewar:
Another badge for courage, I think. I repeat that there has been a substantial drop in unemployment since the Conservatives were in power three years ago. The record of creating and attracting jobs in Scotland since we came to power greatly outweighs the job losses. Of course there is some uncertainty about whether all the jobs that have been promised will appear, but even taking into account the National Audit Office's recommendation of discounting by a third, the balance is still on the right side. Jeremiahs are always to be found on the Opposition Benches, but I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is making a profession of it.
11. Mr. Dennis Canavan (Falkirk, West):
What initiatives he is proposing to improve educational opportunities. [76316]
The Minister for Education, Scottish Office (Mrs. Helen Liddell):
The Government's plans for improving pre-school and school education were set out in our White Paper, "Targeting Excellence: Modernising Scotland's Schools", which was published on 27 January. Our plans for post-16 education and training were set out in our Green Paper, "Opportunity Scotland", published in September 1998.
After 1 July, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Canavan:
Is my hon. Friend aware that many parents, teachers and students are looking forward to the new Scottish Parliament with a new Scottish Education Minister, whose priorities will, they hope, be determined by the people of Scotland rather than by the political establishment in this place, which imposed tuition fees and scrapped grants even for students from low-income families? If my right hon. Friend survives the plot to stop her becoming Secretary of State for Scotland, will she remember that it is not the job of politicians to tell teachers how to teach? Will she please not give in to the temptation to go strutting round Scotland hectoring and handbagging Scottish teachers like some new Labour version of Margaret Thatcher?
Mrs. Liddell:
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman is referring to the fact that I visited the town of Falkirk, which he represents, to break the ground in the first of five new schools that have opened in Falkirk as a result of Government investment. I look forward to the future Education Minister in the Scottish Parliament continuing the work that the Government have begun--work that has resulted in £40 million going to the Falkirk further education college. I am totally confident that a new Labour Education Minister in the Scottish Parliament will continue the Government's work in raising standards and quality in Scottish schools to make Scottish education once again among the best in the world and provide an education system based on the needs of our pupils.
30. Mr. David Kidney (Stafford):
How the community legal service will be accountable to (a) Parliament and (b) the public. [76335]
The Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon):
The community legal service will be administered by the Legal Services Commission. As a non-departmental public body, the commission will be accountable to Parliament through Ministers. The commission's annual plan, setting out how it intends to carry out its functions, and its annual report, setting out how it has delivered against the plan, will be laid before Parliament and published. The commission's accounts will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and its accounting officer will be answerable to the Public Accounts Committee. The commission will, therefore, be accountable to Parliament and, through Parliament, to the public.
Mr. Kidney:
Does my hon. Friend agree that the community legal service offers the exciting prospect of a modern legal service that is available to all for the next century? That ambition is as fitting for the new world of the 21st century as the ambition doubtless felt by the Labour Members who established the legal aid service for the post-war world. Does my hon. Friend further agree
Mr. Hoon:
My hon. Friend is quite right. The Government set out in their election manifesto, on which we were both elected, their determination to create a community legal service. A great deal of work has already been done, establishing partnerships with local authorities and other funders to ensure that we have a comprehensive system of legal advice, helping those most in need and spending taxpayers' money as effectively as we possibly can.
Mr. John Burnett (Torridge and West Devon):
I did not know that the community legal service was to be available for all and I welcome any comments that the Minister of State may have on that point. The Government have stated that they intend to withdraw legal aid from all personal injury actions. Does that mean that in future legal aid will not be available for important personal injury cases with a public interest element, such as the successful claims for asbestosis and white finger? Furthermore, will the Minister of State confirm whether his Department will be issuing a paper on the cost and availability of insurance for defendants' costs in conditional fee agreements and, if so, when that paper will be issued?
Mr. Hoon:
As regards the hon. Gentleman's point about public interest, the Department recently published a document on the funding code, which is the technical measure that solicitors will use to determine whether legal aid should be granted in particular cases. It sets out clearly our intention that public interest cases should continue to be supported, and cases such as those mentioned by the hon. Gentleman should continue to receive funding provided that they satisfy the criteria of public interest merit. As for the insurance industry, I am confident that it will continue to provide a dynamic and successful system for funding conditional fee cases. I am not aware of any particular necessity that such cases should be subject to any form of Government oversight or regulation.
Mrs. Linda Gilroy (Plymouth, Sutton):
Will my hon. Friend comment further on the role of local authorities in achieving partnership? I was pleased that the Lord Chancellor announced last week that Plymouth city council was to be among the 40 local authorities with associate pioneer status. I believe that local authorities have a role to play in achieving accountability, and I would welcome my hon. Friend's comments on that.
Mr. Hoon:
It is important that the community legal service is comprehensive, involving all those who are at present financing the unco-ordinated advice services that are available. That is why we announced six full pioneer areas and, as my hon. Friend says, a further 40 associate pioneer areas, where we will be able specifically to develop the comprehensive service that we believe is essential to a community legal service.
Mr. Edward Garnier (Harborough):
How can the community legal service be accountable to anybody when the Government's plans may not leave it with any money?
Mr. Hoon:
The whole point of the Government's reforms to legal aid is to replace the present unplanned system of spending--which is entirely demand led and cannot be controlled year in, year out--with a system of planning, so we allocate resources to need. That system of planning will mean that there should not be an overspend year on year, and that there always should be sufficient funds available to the community legal service.
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