§ 5. Mr. Ellisasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the application of the proposed regional development incentives to Wales.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasThe whole of Wales will now qualify for various degrees of differential assistance. Details of the new measures and the rates of grant proposed are set out in the White Paper, "Industrial and Regional Development".
§ Mr. EllisIs the Secretary of State aware that a factory in my constituency on 26th October, 1970 was caught with about half its capital development programme uncommitted and, as a consequence of the changes which have been introduced by the Government, it now has a shortfall of about £120,000 in its financial provisions? In view of the turn-round in the Government's attitude, does not the Secretary of State think that factories such as that which I have mentioned should qualify as if there had been no gap in the payment of investment grant?
§ Mr. ThomasI am not aware of the particular instance to which the hon. Gentleman refers and I should be grateful if he would write to me about it and give me more detail.
§ 18. Mr. Johnasked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will institute a study to assess the effect of the new regional policies in Wales.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasNo. I am satisfied that the effects of these policies will be highly beneficial to Wales.
§ Mr. JohnIs this not the same kind of bland inanity which the Secretary of State has been visiting on us for the last two years? Following the four previous Budgets, has he not been similarly confident that such measures would benefit Wales in the near future? Is it not time that an independent body was set up to study how the Secretary of State is able to come to the House to commend 831 policies which directly contradict the policies which he was advocating only two months ago?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasNot only I myself but the Chairman of the Welsh Council and other people connected with industry in Wales have made it clear that these new measures are wholly suited to the needs of Wales. I am surprised that Opposition Members should devote so much time and energy in attacking, not very successfully, a generous package of regional incentives, instead of encouraging industry to take advantage of them for the benefit of hon. Members' constituencies.
§ Sir A. MeyerIs my right hon. and learned Friend aware that Flintshire has had to wait for the advent of a Conservative Government in order at last to get any kind of help?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasYes, Sir.
§ Mr. HoosonIs not the Secretary of State aware that Conservative hopes about what would result from the Budget proposals have been grievously disappointed? Since there are certain intractable problems in the Welsh economy, will he not recommend much more public investment in Wales?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasYes, I have no doubt that there will be more public investment in Wales. The problem, which is described by the hon. and learned Gentleman as intractable, has existed in Wales for a very long time. This is why such powerful measures have been introduced by the present Government.
§ Mr. Gwynoro JonesIs the Secretary of State not aware that what we on this side of the House are saying is that, although we welcome the reintroduction of investment grants, we condemn him for 20 months of wasted effort, with some 20,000 people being made redundant and with thousands more becoming unemployed—all because of the Conservative ideological attitude in June, 1970?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasWe have concentrated on devising a system which gives a good incentive to industry to go to assisted areas. Furthermore, the grants which we are introducing are confined to development areas and are also attached to a differential—which makes all the difference.
§ Mr. George ThomasIs the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that he would gain much more credit if he were to come to the House and admit frankly that he has been wrong and is now making a fresh start? Is he further aware that we are grateful that the Government have realised that the Labour policy of investment grants should be tried in Wales?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasI do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman has gone into all the measures which have been introduced, but the most important measure in regard to development areas is that there is not only free depreciation on plant and machinery but also a 40 per cent. additional allowance on building. Furthermore, the grants, which are automatic, are not tied to the Local Employment Acts and are free of tax, which means that they are not taken into account when tax allowances on the capital amounts are made. This also means that the differential is greater than it has ever been before.
§ Mr. John MorrisWhy could not these measures have been introduced earlier?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasIf they had been introduced by the Labour Government, we would not have inherited the difficult situation which we inherited in 1970.