HC Deb 12 March 1959 vol 601 c1440
26. Mr. C. Hughes

asked the President of the Board of Trade where it is proposed to site the projected advance factory for Wales.

Sir D. Eccles

My right hon. Friend the Minister for Welsh Affairs and I are considering urgently where to put the factory.

Mr. Hughes

Would the Minister consider building more than one factory? Now that he has accepted the principle of building advance factories, will he consider building them in places where they are needed? Is he aware that, according to the latest figures, the three worst-hit areas in Wales are Anglesey where the unemployment figure is 12.6 per cent., Caernarvon with a figure of 9.4 per cent. and Carmarthen where the figure is 8.1 per cent.? If there is any difficulty in choosing between these three areas, will the right hon. Gentleman build three advance factories?

Sir D. Eccles

As the hon. Gentleman will know, factories are being built in Wales, for instance at Swansea. We will take the claims of Anglesey into consideration, but I do not think it would be a sound policy to dot the country with advance factories without knowing whether we shall get tenants for them. This is an experiment in which I am interested, and we shall have to see how it goes.