HC Deb 04 April 1968 vol 762 cc584-7
4. Mr. Peter Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what action he has taken to deal with the economic problems of the South-West as expressed in the Tress Report.

6. Mr. Dean

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what immediate plans he has to deal with the economic problems of the South-West as expressed in the Tress Report.

10. Mr. Nott

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what immediate plans he has to deal with the grey areas of the South-West as expressed in the Tress Report.

Mr. Shore

The Government's response to the economic problems of the South-West are fully set out in their reply to the report of the South-West Economic Planning Council. The Government will be able to give further consideration to the needs of the region in the context of the findings of the Hunt Committee, whose report is expected in the autumn.

Mr. Mills

Would the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that we in the South-West are just not prepared to accept the situation which he has brought about? We want action. Will he look it this matter again and ensure that we have something positive in the near future?

Mr. Shore

I think that we have given a positive response to the Tress Report. In particular, we have accepted the crucial importance of the spine road, which is the central part of the Tress Report's strategy.

Mr. Dean

What comment has the right hon. Gentleman to make on the undoubted fact that the 50 per cent. increase in Selective Employment Tax will enormously increase the economic problems of the South-West?

Mr. Shore

That is a different Question, but the announcement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer that we were considering the remission of Selective Employment Tax to hotels in the rural parts of development areas could have some promise for parts of the South-West.

Mr. Nott

Would the right hon. Gentleman give consideration to a report which might be prepared on the Hunt Report, which is due in the autumn, which is reporting on the Report of the Tress Committee, which has now reported, because we should like to know that eventually these Reports, which we have been reading and studying for many years, will lead to some action by some body?

Mr. Shore

The document to which the hon. Gentleman refers is, I think, the evidence which has been submitted by the South-West Regional Council to the Hunt Committee. This evidence was prepared probably only in the last few weeks, and it will be considered by the Hunt Committee which, I gather, is to visit the area soon.

Dr. John Dunwoody

I assure my right hon. Friend that there is bound to be disappointment in the South-West at the Government's response to the Economic Planning Council's Report. I welcome his assurance that he will give further consideration to those parts of the Report related to the Hunt Committee's finding. Would he go a little further and assure the House that he will give further consideration to other parts of the Report which appear to have been rejected out of hand?

Mr. Shore

Regional planning, and particularly long-term regional planning, of the kind which the regional councils are doing does not lead to total acceptance or refusal at a particular point of time. There is a continuing exchange of views between the councils and the Government.

5. Mr. Dean

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what studies he has made into the significance of road communications for the economy of the South-West.

Mr. Alan Williams

Regional economic planning implications are taken into account in the consideration of road programmes for the South-West, as for other regions. The Government's decision to give high priority to the provision of the spine road reflects recognition of the key rôle of this route for the future development of the region.

Mr. Dean

Does not the hon. Gentleman realise that the Government's refusal to give a definite date for the No. 1 priority in the Tress Report has caused widespread disappointment in the South-West?

Mr. Williams

Surely the hon. Gentleman accepts that this matter must be seen in the context of the full 1970 programme which has yet to be announced. Surely he equally welcomes the fact that this has now been put into the preparation pool.

Dr. Dunwoody

I welcome the assurance that the spine road concept is accepted, but does not my hon. Friend think it a little disappointing that the part of the spine road proposed in the development area was not accepted in the Government's reply? Would not he agree that road communications become more and more important the further away parts of the country are from the centres of population?

Mr. Williams

I appreciate my hon. Friend's point. But the Council, in its Press statement, recognised that the programme announced by the Government was all that could be expected within the time span up to the mid-1970s. In addition to the spine road, we have agreed on five bypasses in the Cornwall area.

11. Mr. Nott

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs when he expects to receive the Report of the Exeter University research study, commissioned by his Department, of tourism in the South-West.

Mr. Alan Williams

By early summer, 1969.

Mr. Nott

While the South-West is glad to know that this Report will be available in the summer of 1969, may I ask whether the hon. Gentleman is aware that we already have at least 10 reports on the tourist industry in the South-West? Would it not be rather more simple and quicker to abolish S.E.T. for the tourist industry straight away, and save all these reports'?

Mr. Williams

The value of the reports is shown in the fact that we have had modifications of S.E.T., and investment grants have been introduced for hotels.

Mr. Patrick Jenkin

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the President of the Board of Trade said the other day that there would be no provision made in the Estimates for the year 1968–69 for any additional help to the hotel industry except the modification of S.E.T., about which we await to hear?

Mr. Williams

I can only repeat that the information, as I understand it, is that there are to be investment grants for hotels differentiating between development areas and non-development areas.