26. Mr. W. Joseph Stewartasked the Minister of Labour the number of new works established in the administrative county of Durham and the county boroughs of Sunderland and South Shields by the Government and private firms each year since 1932; and whether there is any prospect of other works in the near future?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mr. Lennox-Boyd)As the reply is somewhat long and includes a tabular statement, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ One factory was established by the Government in the administrative county of Durham in 1937 in connection with the rearmament programme.
§ The following is a statement of the new factories employing 25 or more work-people established by private enterprise in the administrative county and the county boroughs of Sunderland and South Shields in each year from 1933 to 1937 inclusive.
| Year. | New Factories employing 25 or more workpeople established in— | |||
| The Administrative County of Durham. | The County Boroughs of — | |||
| Sunderland. | Shields South | |||
| 1933 | … | 2 | — | 1 |
| 1934 | … | 4 | — | — |
| 1935 | … | 2 | — | — |
| 1936 | … | 5 | — | — |
| 1937 | … | 4 | 2 | — |
§ These figures do not include the factories on the Team Valley Trading Estate, which is in the county borough of Gateshead.
§ As regards the facilities offered by the Commissioner for the Special Areas outside the Trading Estate the present position is as follows. At Pallion two factories are in course of construction; at St. Helens, Auckland, two factories are in course of construction and negotiations with another prospective tenant are almost complete; one factory is in the 689 course of construction at Crook. I am not yet in possession of complete information with regard to factories which have been erected or which are being constructed entirely by private enterprise since the end of 1937. I would also refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 12th April to the hon. Member for Jarrow (Miss Wilkinson) by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, in connection with the Jarrow Steel Works.