HC Deb 28 June 1955 vol 543 cc194-5
51 and 52. Mr. Gower

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many new factories were completed in Wales in 1954; and how many are likely to be completed during 1955;

(2) how many new factories were completed in the United Kingdom in 1954; and how many are likely to be completed during 1955.

Mr. Kaberry

According to the latest information, seventy-seven new industrial buildings and extensions of more than 5,000 sq. ft. were completed in Wales in 1954, and 1,652 in Great Britain. I cannot forecast what numbers will be completed during 1955.

Mr. Gower

If my hon. Friend cannot answer the second part of the Question, can he at least say how the figures for the first quarter of this year compare with those of the similar period of last year?

Mr. Kaberry

The number of industrial buildings approved in Wales for the first quarter of this year was substantially greater than that for the same quarter of 1954.

Mr. Watkins

Will the hon. Gentleman tell us the figures of factories built in Wales outside the Development Areas in 1954?

Mr. Kaberry

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would put down a Question about that.

Mr. Ness Edwards

Do not the figures which the hon. Gentleman has just given indicate that the Government have abandoned the Development Area policy? Are they not the worst figures for Wales in the last 10 years?

Mr. Kaberry

No, that is not so.

56. Mr. Slater

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many new factories were completed, in Durham, for 1954; how many are in course of construction, and in which areas of the county; and the prospects for new factories in 1956.

Mr. Kaberry

According to the latest information available to the Board of Trade, forty-five new industrial buildings and extensions of more than 5,000 sq. ft. were completed, and forty-eight are under construction. Sixteen of these were in South Tyneside, six in Wearside, fourteen in the rest of the coalfield area, ten in Teesside and the Hartlepools, and two in the Darlington-Barnard Castle area. I cannot say what the numbers will be in 1956.

Mr. Ainsley

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in 1945 some 68 per cent. of new industry came into that Development Area, which was then a depressed area, and that in 1954 only 16 per cent. came into that area, and that that is causing concern to local authorities which are setting up their development boards? At the same time there is a drift of population away from there into and around Greater London.

Mr. Kaberry

I think the hon. Gentleman raises a wider question than the Question on the Paper.

Mr. Slater

Can the hon. Gentleman say how these figures compare with those of Development Areas in the rest of the country?

Mr. Kaberry

I think it would be better for the hon. Member to put down a separate Question about that.