§ 44. Sir J. Edenasked the President of the Board of Trade what has been the total Government contribution to projects in development areas since January, 1965; 1709 how much employment has thereby been created; and what is the total state outlay per head of those found employment.
§ Mr. JayThe total assistance offered by the Board of Trade under the Local Employrnent Acts to projects in development districts between 1st January, 1965, and 31st May, 1966, was £58.5 million. It is estimated that 117,500 jobs will result-2 cost per head of £498.
§ Sir J. EdenWould not the right hon. Gentleman agree that we would get a much better return on the investment of public money in this regard if the areas were concentrated more than they are under the Government's present proposals?
§ Mr. JayNo, certainly not. That experiment was tried by the previous Conservative Government and it had very poor results.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinDoes the right hon. Gentleman recognise that the new system of investment grants is substantially less favourable to industry than the previous system of allowances, and will he stop quoting"phoney"figures— [Interruption.]—and instead pay attention to the Written Answer which I received on 1st July?
§ Mr. JayAs I have repeatedly explained to the hon. Gentleman, it is his figures are are"phoney ". [Interruption.] He will be pleased to know that since we introduced this scheme there has been a great increase in the number of applications for factories in the development areas.
§ Mr. SheldonIs my right hon. Friend aware that the Question to which the hon. Member for Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Patrick Jenkin) referred and to which he received a Written Answer on 1st July posed seven conditions, each of which could have been phrased differently, and that it represented an artificial exercise in comparing investment grants with investment allowances?