§ The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Douglas Jay)With permission, Mr. Speaker, I should like to make a statement on a further programme of advance factories in development areas.
The House will recall that in the closing stages of the debate on Monday, 24th April, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland indicated that I was considering another programme of advance factories. I am now pleased to inform the House that I am authorising a further programme of 30 advance factories totalling about 700,000 sq ft. The estimated cost of these factories will be between £3 m. and £3½ m.
Thirteen of the factories will be in England and these will total 265,000 sq. ft. Seven of these will be in the Northern Region. Nine factories totalling 285,000 sq. ft. are included in the programme for Scotland, where the emphasis has been placed on the western part central belt of Scotland, although I have also included a factory for the South-West and one for the North-East.
In Wales, I propose to erect eight factories totalling 150,000 sq. ft.; five of these will be in Glamorgan, two in Carmarthenshire and one in Anglesey. With permission, Sir, I will circulate a complete list of the location of the factories in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
This is the fifth programme of advance factories in the development areas which the Government have announced since October, 1964. Our last programme was announced in November, 1966, and comprised 21 factories. Altogether, including the present programme which I am announcing today, we have authorised 124 advance factories with a total area of just over 2.4 million sq. ft. Of the 94 factories in the first four programmes, 32 have now been completed, 44 are being built and 27 have already been allocated to firms.
In the present programme, the places which I have chosen in the development areas are those where there is a need to create additional employment opportunities, especially where the coal industry is contracting and where the existence of an advance factory should 436 prove a valuable inducement to industry. Most of the factories will be built on land which the Board of Trade already owns or is in process of acquiring. I hope that most of those in this programme should be ready for occupation by the middle of next year.
§ Sir K. JosephWill the President of the Board of Trade answer four questions? How many people are actually at work in the 32 factories which, he says, have so far been completed? Have any Board of Trade or industrial estate factory tenants closed down or given notice of closing down since 20th July, 1966? If so, how many such factories are affected and how many jobs have been lost? Fourthly, by how much do the Government now expect private investment to fall this year compared with last year?
§ Mr. JayIn reply to the right hon. Gentleman's first question, I cannot without notice give him the exact number of people employed in the 32 factories which have been completed. He might, however, like to know that over a quarter of a million people are now employed in Board of Trade owned factories in development areas—
§ Sir K. JosephSince the Government took office?
§ Mr. Jay—altogether, over 250,000—and a little over 98 per cent. of our total factory owned space is at present occupied.
It is, no doubt, true that in any period, since last July or any other, some businesses have contracted or closed down and others have opened up. I could give the right hon. Gentleman the full details if he wished.
The total extra employment in the factories which I have announced today will be several thousand, but, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, experience shows that these factories often lead to extensions in a quite short period.
§ Sir K. JosephCan the right hon. Gentleman say anything about private investment?
§ Mr. JayThat is a quite separate question. The factories of which I have spoken are, of course, Government-owned factories financed by the Board of Trade.
§ Mr. James GriffithsMay I assure my right hon. Friend that his statement will be received with joy in the areas affected? I congratulate him and my right hon. Friends on the wonderful record of the Government in this respect. I am glad that he is concentrating on some of the coal-mining areas.
Will my right hon. Friend consider two problems arising out of our experience? First, will he seek to speed up the time that it takes to acquire sites and, if necessary, take all the powers which are required for this purpose, and, secondly, for building the factories afterwards? There is concern about the time which elapses between authorisation of factories and their completion.
§ Mr. JayYes, Sir. We are doing two things to achieve those objectives. First, we are mainly building new factories, as I have said, on land already owned by the Board of Trade. Secondly, we are now buying land in advance of actual factory building so as to have further land ready at the next stage.
Earl of DalkeithWill the President of the Board of Trade say how many of the factories earmarked for Scotland are to be built "on spec" and how many have definite users lined up to go into them immediately they are finished?
§ Mr. JayI should explain that all the factories of which I have spoken today are advance factories built in advance of the finding of an actual tenant. I emphasise, however, that these advance factory programmes represent less than half of the total factory building which is being carried out by the Board of Trade in these areas. In the great majority of cases, we find the tenant by the time a factory is completed.
§ Mr. DempseyWhat progress has my right hon. Friend made in extending industrial sites in the new North Lanarkshire site of Bellshill? Is he aware that we could not land any very big fish there, such as a major industry, because of lack of sites? Will he also take it for granted that Scotland welcomes his statement and 438 looks forward to more jobs as a consequence?
§ Mr. JayYes, Sir. The Bellshill estate is, however, proceeding very satisfactorily. There is additional land there and we include another factory at Bellshill in this programme.
§ Mr. BessellIn welcoming the statement by the President of the Board of Trade, may I ask him whether it is a fact that only three advance factories are being provided for South-West England and that they are not necessarily in areas of highest unemployment? Will he also consider providing additional advance factories in areas like Liskeard and Bodmin, where there is high unemployment?
§ Mr. JayThree factories for Cornwall are included in the programme. Their size is, of course, proportionate to the needs of the district. I fully recognise the problem in the South-West, however, and I propose to visit the area in a few weeks' time so that I may be even more familiar with it.
§ Mr. HefferMy right hon. Friend has mentioned nine advance factories for the Northern Region, but he did not say whether there would be any for the Mer-seyside development district. Can he say whether any are included in the programme? Secondly, do the Government now have plans for the development not only of advance factories, but of scientifically-based industry, publicly owned and publicly run?
§ Mr. JayThere are in this programme two factories on Merseyside and one at St. Helens. Of course, in letting these factories we do our best where we can to obtain science-based industries. We have had considerable success. My Department's responsibility is to build, own and let the factories. If my hon. Friend is interested in Government establishments being sited in them, he should address his question to others of my right hon. Friends.
§ Sir Frank PearsonCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether any of these advance factories will help to offset the serious decline in employment in the Lancashire textile industry?
§ Mr. JayThe factory at St. Helens should go some way to meet that, because 439 it is on the outskirts. The main objective of these factories, however, is to give more employment in the development areas where the decline in coal mining is much greater than in any other industry.
Mr. J. T. PriceWhile warmly welcoming the statement made by my right hon. Friend, may I ask him to be a little more forthcoming about what he intends to do with the grey areas? Is he aware that in my part of Lancashire we are not only suffering from a complete abandonment of the coal-mining industry, the partial collapse of the textile industry and the absence of any protection by being a development area, but that we are greatly in need of new industry?
How far has my right hon. Friend gone in fulfilling the pledge which he gave to me some months ago that special attention would be given to this type of area, which surrounds the Wigan coal basin, which is grievously short of industry and should have attention and is being prejudiced by having industry sucked away to the development areas?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Questions must be brief.
§ Mr. JayThat was a slightly different question, with which I am very familiar, partly thanks to the efforts of my hon. Friend.
What we are doing in these areas is to grant industrial development certificates very freely—indeed, in most cases almost automatically—for new industrial expansions. The area to which my hon. Friend refers also has the great advantage that mills which are being released from the cotton industry are available for new industries and are being taken up fairly rapidly by them. This is an advantage which the older coal-mining areas do not enjoy.
§ Dame Irene WardIn welcoming the President of the Board of Trade's statement, may I ask him whether he will insert in the OFFICIAL REPORT a real progress report from the time when the first Government factory was built, giving the full history, the numbers of men and women employed and what has happened in the factories, so that the House can have a full picture of the progress and we can see in which areas Government factories have been established?
§ Dame Irene WardSpeeches are of no use.
§ Mr. JayI certainly would not apply that comment to the hon. Lady's speeches, but I have given some facts today and if she puts questions down I will do my best to answer them.
§ Mr. Alec JonesI should like to assure my right hon. Friend—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."] May I assure my right hon. Friend that this announcement will be received with gratitude in the development areas and particularly in the development area in South Wales? May I suggest to him—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder.The hon. Member is a new Member. I must remind him that he may now ask a question only.
§ Mr. JonesMay I ask my right hon. Friend whether, in considering the advance factory programme, he will make sure that the acquisition of land is speeded up so that advance factories become advanced in fact as well as in name?
§ Mr. MonroWhile welcoming the statement that one of these factories is to be in Dumfries, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to assure the House that his Department will redouble its efforts to bring industries to the factories which are presently building?
§ Mr. JayYes, certainly. We are doing so. As I pointed out in my statement, a high proportion of the factories in the previous recent programme are already allocated to firms.
§ Dr. GrayIn view of the special consideration my right hon. Friend now gives to the twilight areas, including East Anglia, when issuing industrial development certificates, may I ask him whether he will look at areas such as East Anglia for the siting of factories in the future?
§ Mr. JaySome people think that East Anglia is being developed too fast, but I do my best to maintain a proper balance.
§ Mr. McMasterCan the right hon. Gentleman say what matching discussions have been taking place with the Northern Ireland Government? In view of the high proportion of unemployment in Northern Ireland—almost one man in 10 is unemployed at this time of the year—can the Government see what new programme can be started there?
§ Mr. JayAs the hon. Gentleman knows well, responsibility for building factories in Northern Ireland is that of the Government of Northern Ireland, but we work together and we do our best to help by steering suitable expansion to Northern Ireland. I think that this works well.
§ Mr. SymondsWhile welcoming the statement by my right hon. Friend of new factories to come to the Northern Region, I hope that he will bear in mind the high incidence of unemployment at Millom and Cleator Moor, where unemployment has risen. May I ask him to assure the people there that he will do something for them?
§ Mr. JayYes, Sir. We are also building factories in Durham and Cleator Moor, as my hon. Friend knows, and there are two further factories in West Cumberland included in this programme.
§ Dame Joan VickersAs the right hon. Gentleman said that he is coming to the West Country, may I ask whether he will have time to come to Plymouth, in view of the very high rate of unemployment there?
§ Mr. JayI was in Plymouth last weekend to meet Sir Francis Chichester and I am only sorry that I did not see the hon. Lady there.
§ Mr. James HamiltonWhile welcoming the statement by the Government about the proposed factory at Bellshill, in my constituency, in view of the very high unemployment in Lanarkshire, can my right hon. Friend tell me whether he has any further plans for further industrial building in Lanarkshire?
§ Mr. JayYes, Sir. There are further factories in this programme for Lanarkshire apart from Bellshill, but as my hon. Friend knows, this is only part of the new industrial development going forward there. There are private building schemes, and we have individual factories built by the Board of Trade for special purposes.
Mr. Edward M. TaylorIn view of the representations I made to the right hon. Gentleman in Glasgow about unemployment and factory closures there, can he say whether it is possible to have some of these factories in Glasgow, particularly in my constituency? Will an endeavour be made to absorb the skills created at and displaced from those factories?
§ Mr. JayI do not want to read out the whole list, but there are two factories in Glasgow. We do not make allocations on a constituency basis, but act according to unemployment and industrial needs.
§ Mr. HaleIs it not a somewhat uneconomic process, in view of the situation there, to refuse industrial development certificates for the extension in Oldham of the old-established firms, so that they are compelled to move elsewhere at Government expense? Is my right hon. Friend not aware that the £250,000 offices which he personally opened two years ago are now closed down and being left empty?
§ Mr. JayI am surprised that anything should close down in my hon. Friend's constituency. I had not heard of this. Our policy in the cotton areas in Lancashire is, as I have said many times, to grant industrial development certificates very freely at the present time.
§ Mr. Evelyn KingAs the right hon. Gentleman said that he is to visit the West Country, may I ask him whether that journey will include a visit to Weymouth and Portland, to study the unemployment situation there? Further, can he guarantee that industrial development certificates will be freely granted in that area?
§ Mr. JayMy visit will not include Weymouth. It is farther to the South-West. However, we are well aware of the problems of Weymouth, and we certainly take them into consideration in any I.D.C. applications.
§ Following is the location of the advance factories:
| ENGLAND (13) | ||||
| Northern Region (7) | ||||
| Cumberland | ||||
| Maryport | … | … | … | 15,000 sq.ft. |
| Workington | … | … | … | 25,000 sq. ft. |
| Co. Durham | ||||
| Aycliffe | … | … | … | 50,000 sq. ft. |
| Brandon | … | … | … | 15,000 sq.ft. |
| Hartlepool | … | … | … | 15,000 sq.ft. |
| Team Valley | … | … | … | 50,000 sq. ft. |
| Northumberland | ||||
| Cramlington | … | … | … | 25,000 sq. ft. |
| North Western Region (3) | ||||
| Lancashire | ||||
| Huyton | … | … | … | 15,000 sq.ft. |
| Knowsley | … | … | … | 15,000 sq.ft. |
| St. Helens | … | … | … | 15,000 sq.ft. |
| South Western Region (3) | ||||
| Cornwall | ||||
| Bude | … | … | … | 5,000 sq. ft. |
| Truro | … | … | … | 10,000 sq. ft. |
| Wadebridge | … | … | … | 10,000 sq. ft. |
| SCOTLAND (9) | ||||
| Ayrshire | ||||
| Kilwinning | … | … | … | 27,500 sq. ft. |
| Banffshire | ||||
| Banff | … | … | … | 10,000 sq.ft. |
| Dumfriesshire | ||||
| Dumfries | … | … | … | 27,500 sq. ft. |
| Fife | ||||
| Donibristle | … | … | … | 15,000 sq.ft. |
| Glasgow | ||||
| Hillington | … | … | … | 27,500 sq. ft. |
| Queen's Park | … | … | … | 50,000 sq.ft. |
| Lanarkshire | ||||
| Bellshill | … | … | … | 50,000 sq. ft. |
| Chapelhall | … | … | … | 27,500 sq. ft. |
| Uddingston | … | … | … | 50,000 sq. ft. |
| WALES (8) | |||
| Anglesey | |||
| Amlwch | … | … | 25,000 sq. ft. |
| Carmarthenshire | |||
| Ammanford | … | … | 10,000 sq. ft. |
| Llanelli | … | … | 10,000 sq. ft. |
| Glamorgan | |||
| Kenfig | … | … | 50,000 sq. ft. |
| Llwchwr | … | … | 10,000 sq. ft. |
| Merthyr Tydfil | … | … | 10,000 sq.ft. |
| Pontardawe | … | … | 10,000 sq.ft. |
| Rhondda | … | … | 25,000 sq. ft. |