§ 16. Mr. Ainsleyasked the President of the Board of Trade the number of inquiries from firms wishing to come into the Brandon Urban District Council area of the north-west Durham constituency.
§ Mr. D. PriceDuring the past six months the Board has dealt with two inquiries from firms new to the area.
§ Mr. AinsleyIs the Parliamentary Secretary aware that in this urban district over the last few years Hedley Hope Colliery, Esh Winning Colliery, Waterhouses Colliery, Ushaw Moor Colliery, New Brancepeth Colliery and ancillary undertakings have closed down and that the Government have brought nothing appreciable into the area to relieve the vast unemployment, which is not shown as far as the Local Employment Act is concerned? Will he consider the correspondence which he received a fortnight ago and give due consideration to the application for this area?
§ Mr. PriceI am happy to be able to tell the hon. Member, as, I think, he knows, that one of the two inquiries has resulted in a large project, that of the North British Rubber Company, going to the area. As I believe the hon. Member knows, this is likely to result in substantial employment opportunities and will make a considerable contribution to the area.