HC Deb 03 February 1966 vol 723 cc1286-7
Q7. Mr. John Wells

asked the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government will make an early review of the problems of the area south-east of the Thames, particularly the problems of communication, education and medical care and the added burdens imposed on the area by government.

The Prime Minister

The South-East Economic Planning Council, whose appointment my right hon. Friend the First Secretary of State will announce shortly, will advise the Government on the region's broad economic and planning problems.

Mr. Wells

Will the council take note of the grave difficulties in the area created by the Government's ban on industrial and commercial building within 40 miles of London, which has caused an increase in the number of commuters rather than a decrease? Our telephone service and postal service in the South-East are on the verge of a break-down, and education services have been slashed as never before, despite a growth in the school population. In addition, the hospital services are gravely short of cash for beds. Will the council look at all these problems?

The Prime Minister

The council will be empowered to look at all these problems. So far as the cutting of office building is concerned, I should have thought that it would help to relieve congestion in the area and help to relieve pressure on commuter services. The number of commuters has increased by many thousands a year owing to the overbuilding of offices in London.

Mr. Boston

Is the Prime Minister aware that there was widespread dissatisfaction in Kent and other parts of the South-East with the last Government's South-East Study, because certain places have been totally ignored in that study, and that there is very considerable satisfaction, especially in Kent, that some of the places then ignored are now being considered?

The Prime Minister

Yes, Sir. I seem to remember these arguments being successfully deployed in a by-election in Faversham two years ago.

Mr. Lubbock

Can the Prime Minister say how many official and semi-official bodies there are in the South-East concerned with problems of planning and communications and what steps the Government are taking to co-ordinate them?

The Prime Minister

I would not like to answer that without notice. One of the most important things in this region, as in any other, is to see that there is an overall body looking at problems of the area as a whole.