HC Deb 29 October 1970 vol 805 cc411-5
Q2. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Prime Minister if he will now make a further statement on the co-ordination of policies on regional development, as between the Ministry of Technology and the Department of Employment and Productivity.

Q6. Mr. Sheldon

asked the Prime Minister if he will now make a further statement on the Government's co-ordination of policies on regional development.

The Prime Minister

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has the leading responsibility for regional policy. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is responsible for regional industrial development. My right hon. Friends work closely together and with the Secretary of State for Employment on the employment and manpower aspects of regional policy.

Mr. William Hamilton

Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that there is a good deal of alarm, among small firms in particular, concerning the change from investment grants to allowances? Who will take the decision when a power station, for example, which is now fuelled by coal, wants to turn to oil, jeopardising thousands of jobs among miners? What co-ordinating machinery is there for taking such a decision and making sure that these jobs are safeguarded?

The Prime Minister

As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer explained, considerable trouble has been taken to ensure that there is the necessary incentive for investment in development areas and that the differential should be maintained. When it comes to a particular question, such as that mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, obviously the Department of Trade and Industry has a leading part because it is responsible for industrial development in the regions, but the rest of the Cabinet and Cabinet Committee co-ordinating procedure is there to handle the other Departments concerned.

Mr. Sheldon

Will the Prime Minister confirm that, as a result of the policy announced on Tuesday, it is the intention of the Government to spend less money on development areas than was spent by the previous Government? How far short of the money spent by the Labour Government will be spent by the present Government in the regions?

The Prime Minister

My right hon. Friend explained on Tuesday that the balance is roughly the same. The hon. Gentleman must take into account the amount of Government money which is to be spent on infrastructure, quite deliberately, in the regions.

Dame Irene Ward

Is the Prime Minister aware that this statement is rather complicated? Would he agree before long to receive a deputation from those of us who are interested in the satisfactory working of regional government so that we may have a jolly good heart-to-heart talk?

The Prime Minister

It would not be the first occasion on which I have had a heart-to-heart talk with my hon. Friend. Ministers are perfectly prepared to discuss questions of the organisation of regional development. It was clearly set out in the White Paper and I think that when my hon. Friend addresses herself to my Answer, she will find that it is very simple and very clear.

Mr. Harold Wilson

Are we to take the answer of the right hon. Gentleman to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Sheldon) as confirming that the Government will in fact spend on the development areas as much as the former Government were spending, even though it is directed, as he said, in different ways? Secondly, is he in a position to say whether the regional economic planning councils and the regional planning boards will be maintained under this as under the previous Government? Finally, will he take the opportunity to deny hints, which appear to have been coming from some of his Ministerial colleagues, that development area incentives will be channelled to growth points instead of being available, as hitherto, to the whole of a development area as now scheduled?

The Prime Minister

We have always made it plain that there would be general incentives for the development areas as a whole but that we would use the Local Employment Acts to secure special encouragement and selective encouragement for particular projects in the development areas. That remains our policy. When balancing the amount of money to be spent, all these factors must be taken into account. Nobody can say exactly how many special projects will come forward under the Local Employment Acts in any particular year, or to what the total grant will amount.

The first of the economic boards was set up in 1963 by myself as Secretary of State for Regional Development. That in the North-East was the prototype. They are continuing. I have no statement to make about the councils at the moment.

Mr. Harold Wilson

Will the right hon. Gentleman now answer the questions I put to him? Are we to take his answer to my hon. Friend as meaning that the total spent year by year by the present Government on the development areas as a whole will be equal to or greater than the amount which we were spending? Will he give that assurance? Secondly, will he answer my other question about whether, apart from the Local Employment Acts—[Interruption.] There are two million people who are involved in manufacturing industry in these regions, which do not include Dorset. Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm, as I asked, that the existing incentives will be spread over the whole area—apart from Local Employment Act projects—and not just the growth points?

The Prime Minister

The right hon. Gentleman talks about existing incentives, but my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced and published in his White Paper what the incentives from now on are to be. The White Paper sets out the position very clearly. The House will have the opportunity to debate all this next week.

The total is bound to depend on how much is spent on individual projects.

Mr. Harold Wilson

Ah!

The Prime Minister

There is no point in the right hon. Gentleman slipping down in his seat and shouting "Ah.". If he will address his mind to a little simple arithmetic, he will see that, including the Local Employment Act grants, what matters is not the total amount spent, but the total of results achieved. The right hon. Gentleman was more unsuccessful than any previous Government in the development areas while spending more money, but we do not propose to follow his example.

Mr. Varley

Will the Prime Minister take an early opportunity to study an article in today's Evening Standard? It is written by the Director-General of the C.B.I. who expresses grave doubts about the Government's new proposals for the regions. In view of this opinion that investment will be very unattractive, will not the Prime Minister look at this matter again, particularly as that opinion comes from such an authoritative source?

The Prime Minister

We have weighed up all of these matters, but of course I will read what the Director-General of the C.B.I. has written. I hope that something will be written by the General Secretary of the T.U.C. so that I can balance up the two things. We believe that incentives in the regions will be greater than they have been in the past.