§ 30. Mr. Blakerasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to create a category of semi-development areas, enjoying advantages less than those of development areas but greater than those of the rest of the country.
§ Mr. JayI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Yarmouth (Dr. Gray) on 4th August and to my speech in the House on 2nd August.
§ Mr. BlakerWould not the right hon. Gentleman agree that some parts of the country outside development areas need help more than others? Does he not agree that for those areas it is not enough to say that there will be an easy policy of granting industrial development certificates but that it is also a question of the rate of investment grant? Would not the President consider establishing a category of areas which were entitled to grant at, say, 30 per cent.?
§ Mr. JayI think that we can solve this problem adequately by a reasonably flexible use of the industrial development certificates. We use these certificates in a much more discriminating way than seems to be generally realised. Now that we have greatly widened the development areas, I think that that is the proper way to meet the problem.
§ Mr. AndersonDoes my right hon. Friend agree also that particularly because of the willingness of people to travel further to work, boundaries of development areas are bound to be artificial and that if one falls on the wrong side of the boundary one can suffer, as in my county of Monmouth? This adds substance to the complaint by the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Blaker).
§ Mr. JayYes, but as long as we pursue a policy which discriminates geographically, we are bound to have boundaries.