§ 30. Mr. Manuelasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give favourable consideration to the building of an advance factory at the Kilwinning Industrial Estate.
§ Mr. ErrollNo, Sir. I do not think I would be justified in building an advance factory here at present.
§ Mr. ManuelThe right hon. Gentleman knows of the outstanding success achieved by Irvine Town Council in attracting industry to its industrial estate—which is only three miles from Kilwinning—in my opinion largely because it had buildings available for industry to come right into the estate. In the light of representations that I have received, is the Minister prepared to meet a deputation of members of Ayr County Council, Kilwinning Town Council, the Irvine District Council and the local trades council in order that they can place their views before him?
§ Mr. ErrollEither my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary or I will be very glad to receive a deputation at any time, but in view of the comparatively favourable projects which are under way in the area I cannot hold out any hope of special treatment for Kilwinning.
Mr. BaxterIn view of the suggested closure of almost 50 pits in Scotland in the near future, will the Minister consider the whole structure of Scotland's economy in order to see what can be done, from a planning point of view, before the pits are actually closed?
§ Mr. ErrollI have been fully informed about the pit closures. The important thing is to try to get factories as near to the closures as possible in order to avert the unemployment which might otherwise arise.