HC Deb 27 January 1949 vol 460 cc1084-5
14. Mr. Chetwynd

asked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total number and the number privately financed, of factories completed, under construction and approved in the North-East Development Area on 31st December, 1948; and what was the additional factory space provided and the number of men and women who had been found employment.

Mr. H. Wilson

As the answer contains a number of figures, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Chetwynd

Is my right hon. Friend aware, however, that in spite of the excellent work which has been done, the figure of unemployment consistently touches about the 30,000 mark? What further steps are his Department taking to reduce this figure? Will he now sanction a further building programme?

Mr. Wilson

The major steps which have been taken are, in fact, the speeding up of the completion of the factories. At the end of 1948 exactly half of the total number of programmes had been completed.

Following are the figures:

NORTH EASTERN DEVELOPMENT AREA
Position at 31st December, 1948, of New Factories and Extensions of 5,000 sq. ft. and over
— No. of Projects Area in '000 sq. ft
1. Approved:
(a) privately financed 220 11,909
(b) total of all projects 382 17,564
2. Under construction:
(a) privately financed 71 4,708
(b) total of all projects 123 6,599
3. Completed:
(a) privately financed 102 4,354
(b) total of all projects 191 7,186

At 31st December, 1948, employment for 6,250 men and 6,956 women had been provided by the 191 projects completed at that date. The 102 privately financed projects were employing 3,612 men and 2,315 women.