Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

The Scotland Office has been in dialogue with Citizens Advice Scotland—and, indeed, with the Scottish Government—about the services it currently provides and those it will provide if the functions from Consumer Focus Scotland are transferred to it. The hon. Lady makes an important point about the provision of advice, not just about the benefit she mentioned, but about all benefits.

[Katy Clark (North Ayrshire and Arran) (Lab)]

2. What recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on trends in levels of employment in Ayrshire; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Scotland (Michael Moore)]

The Government are committed to creating the right conditions in Ayrshire and elsewhere to ensure sustainable economic growth and, with it, employment opportunities.

[Katy Clark]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. Has he had the opportunity to look at the Experian report, which has received some coverage in the press over the last few days? It says that, owing to the high dependence on public sector jobs and the poor performance in other sectors of the economy, North Ayrshire will be the part of Scotland that finds it most difficult to recover from the recession. Will he look at that report, consider what impact the loss of public sector jobs will have in North Ayrshire and meet colleagues who represent the area to discuss what needs to be done to protect the economy?

[Michael Moore]

I have seen the report and I appreciate the challenges faced in North Ayrshire and elsewhere. Our challenge as a Government is to tackle the deficit we inherited from the previous Labour Government, under whom unemployment was rising significantly. All the measures we have announced in the Budget and the spending review are designed to tackle that, but I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady and other colleagues to discuss the situation.