§ 3. Mr. P. Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development when he will implement the Government's plan for the North-East.
§ Mr. WilliamsIs my right hon. Friend aware that there is one practical and precise task that he can carry out for the North-East—encourage the Post Office to transfer the headquarters of the Post Office Savings Bank to the North-East in general and Sunderland in particular?
§ 16. Mr. Milneasked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development if he will place in the Library copies of the evidence given to the Lord President of the Council in his survey of the North-East, and a list of the bodies he had discussions with.
§ Mr. MilneIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that a considerable amount of valuable information, and, indeed, valuable advice, was given to the Lord President of the Council in his researches into the North-East? This is something which would help not only the North-East but the Board of Trade itself if it were to tackle this growing problem of unemployment, and in fact may be of great assistance to some of the right hon. Gentleman's friends who are questioning him on unemployment and who are now discovering that Tory freedom does not work.
§ Mr. HeathThe information collected by my right hon. Friend the Lord President of the Council was available to his colleagues in Her Majesty's Government and to their Departments. I am sure that my right hon. Friend would have been inhibited in collecting this information to the best advantage if those whom he had been consulting from a wide field had understood that it was all to be published.
§ 22. Dame Irene Wardasked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development whether he will 540 publish the financial figures of the additional expenditure on services such as housing, education, and roads, in excess of normal investment, for the year ending 5th April, 1964, arising out of the Hailsham Report.
§ Mr. HeathNo figure exists for "normal" investment in the North-East for the year ending 5th April, 1964. The figure proportionate to the population of the area is approximately £68 million, whereas we have provided for about £80 million in the White Paper proposals.
§ Dame Irene WardMay I ask my right hon. Friend to bear in mind that I get tired of all this talk in generalities? I should like to be able to pinpoint where and in what areas of the North-East Coast this additional amount of money is being spent. Will my right hon. Friend please refrain from continually talking in generalities and give me the details so that I can see for myself what is happening with this very valuable contribution to the North-East?
§ Mr. HeathI do not regard the difference between £68 million and £80 million as a generality. If my hon. Friend wants specific details, when the money has been spent by local authorities and the central authority and accounted for at the end of the financial year, she will be able to have specific details.