§ 29. Mr. Sheldonasked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of the regional employment premium and of the amount which each region is now expected to receive.
Mr. Alan WilliamsTotal payments of the regional employment premium by the Exchequer to the development areas are estimated for 1968–69 to be approximately £100 million. This total is distributed as follows: Scotland £40 million, Northern £28 million, North Western £18 million, Wales £12 million and South Western £1.6 million. Under separate arrangements the Northern Ireland Government will receive £11 million in 1968–69 from the U.K. Exchequer towards the cost of the scheme.
§ Mr. SheldonHow many jobs does my hon. Friend expect to see created in the first 12 months of the operation of the scheme? Can he form an estimate also of the cost per new job created?
Mr. WilliamsWith a new type of incentive such as this, it is difficult to make any precise calculation at this stage. It would be better to see the scheme in operation for a few months.
§ Mr. HigginsHow is this statement to be reconciled with the Green Paper on the regional employment premium which said that the scheme would be self-financing?
Mr. WilliamsI do not think that arises out of the Question on the Order Paper. Obviously, the aim of the scheme 1240 is to enable the regions to expand while holding inflation down in the over-heated areas, and the term "self-financing" as used in that context has not the same meaning as in the sense suggested by the hon. Gentleman.