§ 28. Mr. Donnellyasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he has taken to provide employment in the Milford Haven area when the present construction work on the Esso and BP sites comes to an end in 1960.
§ Mr. H. BrookeThe Esso and B.P. installations will themselves provide a considerable amount of permanent employment; and a number of the men now employed in particular capacities on the construction work on the two sites are not local men and on completion are likely to move to fresh work elsewhere. Prospects for the Milford Haven area are now much better than they were a few years ago, but the employment problem there is not yet fully solved, and my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and I intend to keep in close touch with the situation.
§ Mr. DonnellyIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the new installations are likely to employ only a small number of people—a matter of 200 or 300 of the existing people there—and that several hundred local people will still be out of work? Is he aware that this problem is almost upon us now, and what does he propose to do now to meet this problem when it arises?
§ Mr. BrookeI said that my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and I are in touch about this matter. We are extremely anxious to bring new industry to Pembrokeshire, and there is no truth in the allegation, which I saw in one of the local newspapers, that the Government had sought to prevent some industry going there which was desiring to go. The fact 965 remains that, thanks to B.P. and Esso installations, the permanent position will be considerably better than it has been in the past, but I thoroughly agree with the hon. Member that it is not yet satisfactory.