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Mrs. Teresa Gorman (Billericay): On behalf of those of us who have stayed to listen to the hon. Lady's most fascinating debate, we would all jointly like to say that we take our hat off to her.
Ms Moran: I thank the hon. Lady for her support. Perhaps next time, she, too, will wear one of our excellent pieces of headgear. In fact, we have a spare demonstration model here, should she choose to wear it.
The hat industry is very sensitive to the fashion climate and the way in which celebrities, Members of Parliament and the royal family wear their hats.
Mr. Kelvin Hopkins (Luton, North):
As another Luton Member--and a daily wearer of hats, come rain or shine, for obvious reasons--I wonder whether my hon. Friend agrees that a revival of the cloth cap, and perhaps even the cloth-cap image, among Labour Members, would be beneficial to the hat industry and to the economy of Luton.
Ms Moran:
All contributions to the promotion of the industry are welcome. Both cloth-cap and high-fashion hat wearers are part of the broad strand of politics embraced by our party.
The promotion of the industry is essential. Hat wearing by high-profile personalities is crucial. Exports and purchases of hats increase, for example, when there is a royal wedding. I encourage everyone to follow the example of the late Princess Diana, who was a regular wearer of hats.
May I be so bold as to suggest that when my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister next meets the Queen, he invites her to put hats and the wearing of hats high on the list of priorities for the next royal wedding? After all, the royal family receives money from the civil list, which includes contributions from Luton taxpayers and members of the hat industry, so we would like its members, in turn, to wear hats and support our industry on each and every possible occasion.
The Minister for Energy and Industry (Mr. John Battle):
At the end of a long day--today started with Trade and Industry questions at 11.30 am and continued with two Opposition debates--it is usual in the House to dread Adjournment debates, but I am absolutely delighted that I am the one whose name was in the hat to respond tonight.
I come from Leeds, where Leonard Sachs was known for many years in the varieties for his overworked puns, and I would not dare to try to compete with my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, South (Ms Moran). The purpose of Adjournment debates is to raise matters of concern to our constituents, and I have never seen it done in such an imaginative and witty way that makes an important point. My hon. Friend is to be complimented for getting off the Order Paper and bringing a serious subject, about the textile, clothing and hat industry in Luton, to life.
Long may Luton be known as the centre of our hat industry. This year is the year of the hat, which is the first promotion event of its kind for the hat sector. Hats have been worn at various events and activities. Swing tags have been produced to attach to the brand labels on hats manufactured in Luton to publicise the year of the hat. Male Members are not allowed to wear hats in the Chamber, and perhaps we should change the rules to ensure that my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, North (Mr. Hopkins) could participate. However, I am not sure that wearing swing tags would ever replace pager tagging.
The British Hat Guild has organised promotional events, which are vital to the survival and prosperity of the industry. The hat industry in Luton is a small, highly specialised sector, but it produces some of the world's most sought-after hats. The UK hat sector's annual turnover is some £90 million and it employs some 2,600 people. It is estimated that there are 130 to 140 companies in the sector, and the majority employ fewer than 50 people. The sector is based in Luton, which is traditionally the millinery centre for Britain.
The Government recognise the importance of the sector to the economy of Luton and the rest of the United Kingdom. It is a flagship industry.
Mr. Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove):
I come from Stockport, which has the UK national museum of hats, and we might dispute which town is the traditional centre of hatting. However, I appreciate the imagination and spirit behind this debate, and I hope that competitiveness is maintained so that Luton's hatting industry does not go the same way as Stockport's.
Mr. Battle:
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. We do not want to see a museum of the past, but an industry with a bright future. Europe is the industry's main export destination and figures show that 43 per cent. of manufacturers' sales are to Europe. However, more than half the UK's net supply was from outside Europe. The industry faces a real challenge in import and export markets.
We should emphasise our strengths. If the sector faces unfair import competition, especially in the details on clothing and hats, there are ways to tackle that within the European competitiveness rules. My hon. Friend the Member for Luton, South made the important point that the key to making progress in global competition is innovation and quality. That is where the real strength of the industry has lain traditionally and it is where it will lie in the future.
Companies and individuals are producing sports, protective and hygienic headwear. Headwear generally is becoming increasingly fashionable, and we also have
high fashion, independent milliners who are performing well. The likes of Philip Treacy and Kangol have made a considerable impact on the fashion industry in recent years and are household names in Britain and overseas. Kangol has managed to launch its branded goods throughout the world's best high streets. It is such high-profile images that are enhancing consumer appeal, especially with younger people, which must be encouraging for the industry.
Only one company can be the cheapest, and the rest must rely on quality, innovation, new products and new processes to make progress. Our job in the DTI is to act as a catalyst to nudge British industry forward so that we face up to the challenge of new markets and global competitiveness. I am often amazed by the levels of skill and craftsmanship in our manufacturing industry. The traditional handcrafts are often blended with the most modern technology. That is the key to the future of manufacturing, and the hat industry is a prime example.
People, their skills, experience, expertise and talent, are the greatest assets of companies, and it is the companies that invest in training and building up skills that will have a competitive edge. In the past, there was no specific vocational training programme for the hat-making industry. Last year, CAPITB--the national training organisation--and the British Hat Guild developed a new programme of national vocational qualifications specifically designed to develop hat-making skills. My hon. Friend the Member for Luton, South mentioned the colleges running those courses and, as well as Barnfield college in Luton, Huddersfield offers a city and guilds certificate in millinery as part of the link between training and industry.
In common with most traditional, craft-based industries, the hat industry has to address the difficulty of recruiting skilled labour. I hope that the launch of the new NVQ programme will go some way to addressing the problem.
The NVQ in manufacturing sewn products includes mandatory and optional units, within which candidates can develop the vital hat-making skills of sewing, blocking and trimming. That will ensure that those skills are not lost and that examples of their use are not just museum displays in the future. It offers a real potential for developing the industry. In addition, the university for industry, when it is launched, will contribute to retaining skills and to upskilling in the workplace, for small and larger businesses.
There is no denying that trading conditions are difficult. The performance of the hat industry is affected by both external and internal factors. The hat sector has faced difficult trading conditions, as has the rest of the textile and clothing industries throughout Britain. The crisis in south-east Asia, the well-publicised strength of sterling, as well as wider factors in trading and manufacturing processes, mean that the international trading environment is fast moving and complex.
The size of the sector has declined over the past 40 years, as hats are no longer essential everyday wear. Increasingly, the trend has been towards wearing them
for special occasions only. However, as my hon. Friend said, that does not need to be the case, as wearing hats could again become ordinary and a matter of common sense. There is a long way to go, especially in protective and safety headgear--which is increasingly fashionable--and also in sportswear and high fashion.
Kangol has done a lot to improve the street credibility of hats with the young. In the wider world of fashion, London style is taking off, and its designers and brand names compete with the best in Paris and Milan. I am sure that Luton hats can feature in that future.
As my hon. Friend mentioned, my Department funded a competitive analysis report on the UK hat sector. Cranfield Innovative Manufacturing Ltd. produced a report that was presented to industry representatives in October, at a seminar funded by the DTI and the British Hat Guild. It concentrated on the competitiveness of the UK hat sector, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, but also the real opportunities open to it.
The report contained recommendations to improve the industry's cutting edge and competitiveness. It looked in particular at the development of a supply chain initiative for hat making to co-ordinate information to suppliers about total demand and market trends. It proposed that suppliers should compete but also co-operate, through the supply chain, so that the whole sector could be strengthened.
The report also proposed the establishment of education and information services for managers in the industry, to equip them with the skills needed to lead their companies and to use the new technologies, including e-commerce, as my hon. Friend mentioned. In addition, it proposed education and training initiatives to integrate design and production skills so that producers become more aware of the potential of design and designers. Independent milliners especially could benefit from greater awareness of the potential of volume production.
Finally, the report recommended the establishment of an export information service to identify growth markets and to support the export potential of the high-value hat industry in particular by promoting Luton--and other centres in the UK--as high-quality suppliers. The service would also help by disseminating information in the UK about changes in markets so that suppliers can respond quickly.
I understand that, following the analysis report, a steering group has been set up this year to develop an action plan for the UK hat sector, based around the report's recommendations. The steering group is made up of representatives from industry and the British Hat Guild, while officials from my Department will work in partnership with the industry to do everything possible to promote its future.
I hope that I have demonstrated that the DTI has a commitment to helping to improve the competitiveness of this sector, as of all manufacturing. We want this creative sector to flourish, and we want to support international export efforts. We will continue to work in partnership with the sector to ensure that it has a bright future.
However, I want to compliment my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, South on her most imaginative way
of going beyond mere words to demonstrate in a practical, bright and colourful way that there is a serious point to campaigning for manufacturing industry on behalf of the country and our constituencies. Presented in a lively and witty way, as was evident this evening, such a campaign deserves to attract a lot of attention.
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