HC Deb 06 December 1971 vol 827 cc924-5
21. Mr. Blenkinsop

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will authorise the acceleration of the purchasing programmes of public authorities and nationalised industries so as to encourage industrial development, especially in the North-East and other development areas.

Mr. John Davies

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Minister for Aerospace gave the hon. Member for Fife, West (Mr. William Hamilton) on 29th November.

Mr. Blenkinsop

I welcome such orders as have been placed, but is the Secretary of State aware that this is only a drop in the bucket as against the enormous tide of redundancies we now face, with male unemployment being over 15 per cent. in my constituency? Therefore, will the right hon. Gentleman agree to a special emergency conference of all authorities responsible in this matter to take account of a limited number of practical proposals which we are prepared to put forward?

Mr. Davies

I am constantly in consultation with the chairmen of the nationalised industries on issues of this kind and will continue to be so. I think the hon. Gentleman recognises that already the measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in bringing forward about £185 million worth of projects are not negligible.

Dame Irene Ward

Surely my right hon. Friend can give, and is entitled to give, a much better answer. Cannot he tell hon. Members opposite of all the amount of money that is being poured into the area? Can he discover what advantage the local authorities are taking of the opportunities that have been offered to them? May I say with all the power at my command that the North-East Coast is a jolly nicer part of the country than the North-West?

Mr. Davies

Without wishing to enter into any purely local competition with my hon. Friend, I can say that the measures which have been announced are very considerable.

Dame Irene Ward

Announce them again.

Mr. Davies

Certainly. They amount to about £1,400 million of tax remission in a full tax year, £200 million of capital works and housing improvement grants, £70 million-plus of naval shipbuilding orders, £185 million of advanced capital works and nationalised industry programmes, and so on.

Mr. Leadbitter

After that catalogue of announcements which the Secretary of State has hurriedly pushed forward, will he bear in mind that the situation in the development areas, and in the North-East in particular, is critical? It is in that sense that he must answer the House. Will he bear in mind that all the forecasts for industrial investment next year are no higher than the present levels? The industrial investment programmes of the nationalised industries could be looked at again so that the supplier industries to the nationalised industries can be encouraged to improve their investment programmes. Therefore, will the Secretary of State bear in mind that in the case of my constituency, where for every 70 men and boys out of work there is only one vacancy and where the unemployment figure is 12½ per cent., his answers must reflect the seriousness of the situation?

Mr. Davies

I should like to feel that my answers have reflected the seriousness of the situation. One of my answers quite clearly concerns the hon. Gentleman's part of the world and has benefited it.