§ 1. Mr. Woofasked the President of the Board of Trade how many new jobs have been created in the Blaydon Employment Exchange area as a direct result of the operation of the Local Employment Act; and to what extent redundancies have been notified to Her Majesty's Government since June, 1958.
§ The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. F. J. Erroll)Some 400 new jobs are expected to be provided by projects in the Blaydon Employment Exchange area for which assistance has been offered under the Local Employment Acts. I cannot say how many of these have already arisen. In addition, the Board of Trade has decided to build an advance factory in the area which should provide another 100 jobs.
The Ministry of Labour has been notified of some 800 redundancies in the area since mid-1959. Records for the earlier period have not been retained.
§ Mr. WoofDoes not the Minister recognise that we are faced with a serious problem of depopulation as a result of redundancies and that the situation to be faced by school leavers is much worse than at any time since the end of the 1748 war? Cannot the right hon. Gentleman use his powers to see that the provisions of the Local Employment Act are brought fully into effect in order to assist more industries into the area especially when in that area so many jobs have disappeared completely?
§ Mr. ErrollI fully recognise the seriousness of the situation and that is why the locality was scheduled as a development district in July last year. That means that the area can have the full benefits of the Local Employment legislation.