§ 22. Mr. Rossasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce legislation to control the location of office building and development.
§ Mr. ErrollNo, Sir.
§ Mr. RossI wonder whether the President of the Board of Trade remembers a speech made by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 2nd July, 1959? Does he agree that
… there is no reason why more office work, for example, should not be done in Scotland rather than in the congested areas of London and the Midlands."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 2nd July, 1959; Vol. 608, c. 635.]That is what the right hon. Gentleman said at that time. Will he persuade his Government colleagues to give a lead in this matter, because it would result in a considerable amount of work which would be of great value to Scotland?
§ Mr. ErrollIt is only comparatively recently that I have begun to acquire a past. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for reminding me of my former speech. There is no change in my attitude of mind to this matter, but the control of office building is a very different thing from the control of industrial location.
§ Sir H. HarrisonIs it not true that office accommodation is just as valuable as factories in the development of our industry because more people are employed in offices? Some of their accommodation is bad. Would not an improvement in it help our export trade?
§ Mr. ErrollI am glad to support what my hon. and gallant Friend has said.
§ Mr. JaySince in the opinion of everyone except the President of the Board of Trade the exclusion of office 626 development from the industrial development certificate system is undermining the whole of the right hon. Gentleman's location of industry and employment policy, will he not deal with this issue in a less offhand manner? Will he reexamine it seriously with the intention of doing something about it?
§ Mr. ErrollThere is nothing offhand about my attitude to this matter. It has been examined very thoroughly, and it is certainly not undermining my location of industry policy.