§ 3. Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether, in view of the fact that the level of unemployment in Bolton is now above the average for the North-West Region as a whole, he will grant intermediate area status to the town.
§ Mr. John DaviesAssisted area boundaries are kept under continuing review, but I have no statement to make at present.
§ Mr. ReedMy right hon. Friend knows that unemployment in Bolton has risen by 172 per cent. in the last 12 months—the highest percentage increase of all travel-to-work areas in the North-West Region—and that our unemployment is now way above that existing in the intermediate areas. Yet we are denied all assistance under the Government's regional policy and we are actively discriminated against when seeking to stand on our own feet. This is not only arrant nonsense but is monstrously unjust. In view of the wholly unsatisfactory nature of the reply I have received, I shall seek an early opportunity of raising this matter on the Adjournment.