§ 23. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the fact that Government loans and grant for projects in the development districts now average £601 per job, he will seek powers to provide better jobs in the South-West, where average earnings fell well below the national average.
§ Mr. GreenNo, Sir. My right hon. Friend's present powers enable him to give assistance in order to provide jobs in areas of high unemployment. He does not consider the level of earnings to be at all a comparable criterion with the level of unemployment.
§ Mr. DigbyWill not my hon. Friend at least use his powers of persuasion, if not his powers of spending, to help us in the South-West, where we badly need more industry?
§ Mr. GreenI fully appreciate my hon. Friend's concern about diversification and the improvement of the level of employment in the South-West. In the south-west region in May, 1963, the unemployment figures as a whole, for the region, were 1.9 per cent. I accept that in the south-west development districts they were 6.5 per cent., and that is why these districts remain development districts.