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Textile and Clothing Industry
9. Judy Mallaber (Amber Valley): If he will make a statement on his Department's response to the textile and clothing strategy group's report published on 6 June. [124591]
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Stephen Byers) rose--
Hon. Members: Show us the jacket.
Mr. Byers: The Government welcome--
Mr. Byers: Thank you very much.
The Government welcome the report of the strategy group on the textile and clothing industry. At its launch last week, the Government announced as a first step measures to help firms strengthen their position in world markets, raise added value, improve skills levels and diversify into new markets. The Government's response has been widely welcomed by the industry.
Judy Mallaber: I thank my right hon. Friend, and welcome his comment that his statement last week was just a first response to that report, which is so essential to making sure that the industry has a future and can compete in world markets.
In view of the current job losses and closures in the industry, will my right hon. Friend ensure that the special unit now set up in his Department acts very speedily on all the recommendations in the report, in conjunction with the industry, and that the necessary additional resources are allocated to back up that work? Will he instruct the Government offices for the regions to give assistance to clothing and textiles firms, including helping them access
the grants that are available? Will he also urge regional development agencies to give priority to the industry and see what they can do to make sure that it has a future?
Mr. Byers: My hon. Friend is right to point out that last week we announced a plan that is really just the first step in our approach to the strategy group's report. A key aspect will be to address matters at a regional level. The regions of England--and, indeed, Scotland and Wales--are being affected in different ways, reflecting the diversity of the industry. The Government offices, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly are looking carefully at how they can assist an industry through a period of quite radical change, which is what we are seeing in the textiles and clothing industry.
I happen to believe that, given the strengths that we have in the United Kingdom, textiles can be a real growth industry in the future. For that to be achieved, we have to arrest the present decline, and I think that the measures that we have put in place will begin to do precisely that.
Mr. David Tredinnick (Bosworth): Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that for many thousands of workers in the east midlands, including my constituency in Leicestershire, the report has come too late, and that there is very little in it for those who have lost their jobs? Does he further accept that some recommendations, such as those for improvements in training, mean little in a town like Hinckley, where the courses have just closed down?
What will the right hon. Gentleman do about reducing tariff barriers in markets overseas, now that the multi-fibre arrangement is being phased out? What is there in the report about his attempts to improve the trading situation for our hard-pressed companies abroad--companies that are in a worse situation under this Government?
Mr. Byers: As for the multi-fibre arrangement, we are ensuring that as we move into that situation, we can open up trade and markets that will benefit UK industry. That is what we intend to do, while recognising, as we do, that open trade is in the interests of the industry because there will be more markets to which it can export. That is one of the Government's key objectives.
I understand that the training courses that were held at Hinckley have not closed, but have been transferred to a neighbouring college, so the opportunities are still there. However, the hon. Gentleman is right to point out the importance of training for people who were involved in the industry. There has been a history of underinvestment in training and skills development. One of the key priorities raised in the strategy group's report was the importance of investing in skills and training--and that is exactly what we intend to do.
Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East): A few days ago, Coats Viyella announced the closure of the Cawdor Street mill in my constituency in Farnworth, with the loss of 90 jobs. Will the recommendations in the report that are aimed at helping such workers be in place soon enough to assist those who will lose their jobs in Farnworth?
Mr. Byers: Through the initiatives taken by the Department for Education and Employment, tailor-made proposals will help individuals who have been affected by the announcement to which my hon. Friend referred.
In addition to the help that we can give individuals, it is important to look at the industry as a whole to consider what support the Government can give. As a result of the strategy group's report, that is what we are doing. The report includes a series of recommendations from the industry and its employees; that is why it is so strong and so practical in setting out an agenda for the future of the industry, and why we take it so seriously. Last week we responded to several of the recommendations, and during the period ahead, we shall give further consideration to how we can implement the review group's proposals positively.
Mr. Richard Page (South-West Hertfordshire): I assure the House that I am wearing a jacket that was made in England.
Why did the strategy group set up by the DTI take more than a year and a half to report? Every month during that year and a half, hundreds--thousands--of jobs were lost, culminating today, I understand, in 4,000 jobs at C&A. Is the Secretary of State not aware that he should have taken action to have the report produced sooner? Is he aware that the textiles analyst at Deutsche bank said that the initiative could not reverse the industry's fortunes? She said:
- This sounds like a lot of hot air. The government is just trying to avoid adverse publicity. It is willing to pour money into Rover, but the textiles sector is in far worse condition than the car industry--that's politics for you.
Mr. Byers: The hon. Gentleman does no service to the Phoenix group, which has taken over Rover, by implying that it receives state support; it does not. The group has made it clear to its City backers that it is not asking for money from the Government. I hope that the hon. Gentleman realises that he has made a mistake. He is talking down the Phoenix group, and that will be bad news for Rover and for Longbridge. That is the reality: not a penny is going from the Government to the Phoenix group to support it in Longbridge. That is what Phoenix wanted, and that is how we are responding. He should not talk the group down; the City listens carefully to such comments.
The textiles and clothing strategy group was not run by the Department. We asked the industry to make recommendations, and the industry took 18 months. That was the decision that it took. However, it has made clear recommendations to the Government, and we are acting on them.
The Conservatives have no strategy for textiles and clothing. They were prepared to see the industry become the innocent victim of market forces. We are prepared to help it through a process of change and to diversify, raise skills and invest in the future--and that is exactly what we shall do.
In case the hon. Gentleman wants to ask about my labels, he will be pleased to know that, from top to toe, I am wearing Great British-built clothing.
Export Licences
10. Mr. Eric Illsley (Barnsley, Central): What plans he has to amend the procedures for application for export licences. [124592]
The Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs (Dr. Kim Howells): Since March 1999, exporters have been able to apply for standard individual export licences on disc. About 90 per cent. of such applications are now made in this way. The aim is to build on that and to introduce a system that will enable exporters to submit their applications over the internet, subject, of course, to satisfactory assessment of security and other relevant issues. Every effort is made to give applicants a decision as quickly as possible, consistent with careful consideration.
Mr. Illsley: My hon. Friend will be aware of a company in my constituency that, even as we speak, is in danger of losing a $600,000 contract to supply a standard piece of equipment--a mine hoist--to a mine in Iran. It might lose the contract because of delays in obtaining an export licence, which it applied for as long ago as March. Will he consider the procedures involved in applying for such licences, and in particular, the inflexibility caused by the fact that the committee that considers the applications meets only once a month? After the approval of an application, delays are then caused by the requirement for approval by other Government Departments. Does my hon. Friend not agree that it might be better to have a single agency to deal with such licences, so as to speed up the process?
Dr. Howells: I take on board my hon. Friend's suggestion, but he must remember that United Nations sanctions are in place to govern the export of military or dual-use goods to Iran. I understand that the sanctions enforcement team was concerned that the hoist in question might have applications other than those specified in the application. That is why a careful examination of the application by the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is under way. However, I assure my hon. Friend that as soon as the matter returns to the Department of Trade and Industry, it will receive swift and careful attention.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York): Although I welcome the Minister's announcement, will he join me in regretting today's announcement by British Aerospace of the closure of its avionics plant at Sutton-on-the-Forest in the Vale of York? One reason for the closure is the merger with Marconi, but another is that the company is finding it increasingly difficult to compete in a major internationally competitive market. Undoubtedly the strength of the pound has harmed the company, so what do the Government propose to do to aid exports in that market?
Dr. Howells: I, too, regret the announced job losses, but I am absolutely sure that British Aerospace, like many other companies in this country, has made the necessary adjustments to compete worldwide. It is a successful company in world wide competition, and I as a Minister will not stand here and talk it down. I know that we have measures in place to help the workers who are being
displaced to retrain and find other work. I hope very much that that will happen quickly, but I have every confidence in British Aerospace as a world competitor.
Ms Julia Drown (South Swindon): A number of export licence issues were raised in the Scott report, and they cannot be addressed without further legislation. Is my hon. Friend's Department ready to get that legislation on to the statute book, and is it pushing to find parliamentary time to do that as soon as possible?
Dr. Howells: I assure my hon. Friend that we are busy at work on drafting appropriate legislation, and that we shall fight our corner to make sure that it appears on the statute book.
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