HC Deb 27 March 1969 vol 780 cc1773-4
12. Mr. Coe

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs when the Government's reply to the North-West Economic Planning Council's Report, Strategy II, will be published; and if he will make a statement.

36. Mr. Arthur Davidson

asked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs if he will make a statement on the reply he has now given to the North-West Economic Planning Council on the proposals in Strategy II.

Mr. Shore

The Government's reply to the Council's Report was published on 19th March. Copies have been sent to all M.P.s in the region and are available in the Library.

Mr. Coe

While I am encouraged by the evidence in that Report and the efforts of my right hon. Friend to promote long-term planning between the various planning authorities, in the case of local authorities what steps is he taking to ensure the continuity of this long-term planning when the time comes for a number of existing local authorities to disappear in the reorganisation of local government?

Mr. Shore

As my hon. Friend knows, some ad hoc arrangements have been made between existing authorities in the North-West which, in a sense, anticipate the reorganisation of local government. That apart, I think we must await the publication of the Maud Report before going further in that direction.

Mr. Davidson

Much play was made in Strategy II and in the Government's reply of population growth. Is he aware that the endemic problem from which we have suffered in North-East Lancashire over the years is the direct opposite, namely, population drift? Is he satisfied that this drift is now declining, and will he concentrate on bringing new industry into the area to ensure that the population stays there?

Mr. Shore

My hon. Friend knows that the facts about population movement and growth in the North-West region are a bit more complicated than he has suggested. First, there is considerable growth in population, and this is combined in some parts of the region—especially in North-East Lancashire with which my hon. Friend is closely associated—with a decline in population. We want to devise a strategy which takes account of the needs of new housing at the location of additional population, and, at the some time, looks after those areas which are suffering population decline.

Mr. Waddington

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is a great deal of disappointment at the tone of his reply to Strategy II, particularly the airy-fairy nature of the promises made to North-East Lancashire? Is he aware, in particular, that it is not good enough to say that the Government accept the case for a new road link between the M6 and the Calder Valley, because what the people of North-East Lancashire are entitled to expect, surely, is that, before the new town comes into existence, that new road link will be there?

Mr. Shore

The timing of road building is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport. However, I am not aware that there is disappointment in the North-West Region with the reply which we have given.