§ 7. Mr. Woofasked the President of the Board of Trade how many of the 14,500 jobs promised for the County of Durham during the next few years will be made available within the exchange area of the Blaydon constituency.
§ Mr. N. MacphersonAbout 120.
§ Mr. WoofIs the Minister aware that four collieries have recently closed down, carrying with them a considerable weight of redundancy in this area? Is he also aware that only one factory employing skilled engineers has been built since the war? In view of the preponderance of 230 those engaged in temporary employment, those registered as disabled unemployed and school-leavers who find it very difficult to get employment, what steps does the Minister intend to take to relieve this gloomy prospect?
§ Mr. MacphersonI shall certainly take note of what the hon. Member has said. He will appreciate that the unemployment in his constituency does not qualify it for classification as a development district.
§ Mr. JayDoes not the Answer to this Question and the previous Answers show that it would have been much better to have left the whole of the North-East Coast as a development area, as it was under previous Distribution of Industry Acts?
§ Mr. MacphersonNo, Sir. I do not think so at all. The mere fact that, in spite of cutting down the areas which are eligible for treatment under the Local Employment Act very considerably, we are yet not able to bring all the industry we should like to bring to them, shows that it would have been folly to have kept much wider areas and so not have been able to concentrate the assistance we are giving.