HC Deb 23 June 1955 vol 542 cc1479-80
9. Mr. Ellis Smith

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken or is proposed to encourage firms to open on the industrial sites at Newstead and Stoke in the City of Stoke-on-Trent.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

The Government have no power to direct industries to particular places. I am always prepared to consider applications for industrial development certificates on their merits, and six certificates have been granted in the last 18 months for these two sites.

Mr. Ellis Smith

Could not the right hon. Gentleman make a definite statement about the prospects of development on these sites for the guidance of the city council, which is becoming very short of land for housing and, unless there are good prospects for industrial development, it will have to reconsider its position?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I can only say that I have already granted six industrial development certificates in the last 18 months and that unemployment in this area is only 0.6 per cent.