§ I have been talking of the need to make full use of our national resources of manpower in the economic context. There is one aspect of this problem that is of particular urgency because it has a human as well as an economic significance. I refer to the problem of regional unemployment.
§ No one can doubt the intense human reasons for making further efforts to cope with the problem of regional unemployment. At the same time, however, the need for progress here should not be underestimated in the context of economic growth. It will not be possible to run this country at its full potential on a steady basis so long as full employment in Scotland and the North-East and Ulster mean overfull employment and serious shortages of labour in the Midlands and the South. The need for further progress with the problems of regional unemployment is, therefore, both social and economic, and the Government have decided on a number of major measures in this field, which I will now explain to the Committee.
§ First, measures involving further public outlay. The Committee are aware that we have been considering the level of the Government grant to local authorities for expenditure on the clearance and rehabilitation of derelict sites in development districts. At present, the grant is 50 per cent. with a ceiling of 75 per cent. when rate deficiency grant is attracted.
§ This, clearly, is not enough, and I have decided on increases to 85 per cent. and 95 per cent. respectively for all tenders approved in the next nine months. As a result, I hope that a substantial amount of new work will be undertaken quickly in the development districts of a kind 480 that will make a lasting and important contribution to the rehabilitation of the districts and thereby to their attractiveness to future industrial expansion.
§ In Scotland, we have agreed to make a loan to Messrs. Wiggins Teape to finance the construction of an important pulp and paper mill at Fort William. The details will be announced tomorrow by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, who will introduce the necessary legislation. The mill will provide a most valuable complement to the work of the Forestry Commission in the area, and I am confident that it will help with the establishment of a thriving community there.
§ Turning to the North-East, we have decided to make a loan to the Tees Conservancy Commissioners to enable them to complete a major scheme of development known as Lackenby Dock, which will provide valuable additional facilities for ocean-going ships. Details will be announced in due course by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport. This is a very necessary part of the plans to strengthen the whole economy of the North-East on which my noble Friend the Lord President of the Council is now engaged.
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- AID FROM SURPLUS CAPACITY 278 words c481
- LOCAL EMPLOYMENT ACT 181 words cc481-4
- TAX INCENTIVES 829 words