HC Deb 27 July 1950 vol 478 cc670-1
22. Sir Ian Fraser

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has considered the representations made to his Department by the Ulverston Urban District Council about the encouragement of light industry or other similar developments in the Furness area; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. H. Wilson

My Department has received no representations from this council recently, but if they are made I shall be pleased to consider them. Since the war, in the Furness area one Government factory has been allocated to industry, five new factories and extensions have been completed, four more are under construction and others have been approved. In addition, a number of firms new to the area have acquired existing premises. These developments, taken together, which should ultimately give employment to about 3,000 workers, are already employing about 1,500.

Sir I. Fraser

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that over the last five years representations, including deputations, have been made to his predecessor and to his Department? In any amelioration of the anxieties of Barrow-in-Furness will the right hon. Gentleman take into account the fact that a great many people who live in Ulverston also work in Barrow-in-Furness?

Mr. Wilson

Yes, Sir. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I myself visited the Ulverston Council some little time ago. I am glad that as a result of the representations, and of the action taken by the Government, a considerable fall has taken place in unemployment in the area during the last three years and that unemployment is now very considerably lower than it was before the war.