§ 9. Mr. Boydenasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will specify those places in the Bishop Auckland constituency where extensions to factories have been started or new factories have been started, and where extensions to factories, or new factories, have been approved since the passing of the Local Employment Act.
§ Mr. MaudlingIn Shildon one new factory and one extension of an existing factory have been approved, but work has not started on either.
§ Mr. BoydenIn view of this poor record in my constituency, where 1,500 men and women are still out of work, does the right hon. Gentleman not think that his statement in a recent debate that the problem of unemployment in London and the Midlands would have to be solved first is very unsatisfactory for the North-East and my constituency in particular?
§ Mr. MaudlingI do not think that that was what I said. I said that if we get industries to move from the Midlands and London to areas of high unemployment they will naturally go first of all to the nearest areas concerned. Unemployment rates on Merseyside have been and still are higher than in Shildon. The rate in the district in October was 3 per cent.