§ 56. Mr. Hefferasked the President of the Board of Trade what new industries have been developed in the Merseyside development district since October, 1964; how many new jobs have been created; and what plans there are for the future.
§ Mr. DellBetween October, 1964, and September, 1968, 756 I.D.C.s were approved for the Merseyside Development Area, including Skelmersdale and Winsford. It is estimated that these projects should eventually provide nearly 50,000 new jobs, of which nearly half will be for men.
§ Sir K. Joseph rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Heffer) did not ask a supplementary question. Mr. Heffer, Question No. 57.
§ Sir K. JosephOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it a rule of the House that if there is no supplementary question from the originator of the Question there may be no supplementary question from any other hon. Member?
§ Mr. SpeakerYes, it is the rule. Mr. Heffer.
§ 57. Mr. Hefferasked the President of the Board of Trade what publicly-owned interests have been created in the Merseyside development district since October, 1964; how many workers they employ; and what plans he has for the future.
§ Mr. DellAbout 3,700 Civil Service jobs have been created on Merseyside by the establishment of the National Giro and a Board of Trade Investment Grants Office, and by the dispersal of work of the Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Public Building and Works. A further 2,500 to 3,000 Civil Service jobs will be added over the next three years or so, as a result of dispersal and reorganisation.
§ Mr. HefferWould my hon. Friend agree that, while this is very welcome, it is only playing around with the problem of newly-developed Government-sponsored industries on Merseyside? Will the Government look again at the question of developing such industries on Merseyside because it is essential that something should be done within the next year or so in addition to those created by private industry?
§ Mr. DellI entirely agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of creating new employment opportunities on Merseyside, a matter in which I have a common interest with him. I think he will agree that the National Giro has made a major contribution to the creation of employment opportunities. Private industry is also coming in and must, of course, bear a major proportion of the burden of providing further jobs.
§ Sir K. JosephWhile one recognises the need for further jobs on Merseyside, will the hon. Gentleman tell the House how the figures that he as given compare with the jobs produced by the introduction of the motor industry to Merseyside when my right hon. Friend the Member for Barnet (Mr. Maudling) was Chancellor of the Exchequer during the last Tory Administration?
§ Mr. DellThe motor industry has, of course, made a major contribution in providing jobs on Merseyside but, equally other new industries have been brought there. The motor industry has been expanded, and the shipbuilding industry is in a healthier state at the moment—it is an industry on which Merseyside greatly depends—than when right hon. Gentlemen left office.