§ Q2. Mr. Strangasked the Prime Minister if he will make an interim statement on the investigations of the Government Departments dispersal committee.
§ The Prime MinisterI expect to receive recommendations by the end of 237 the year. I will then report the outcome to the House.
§ Mr. StrangIs the Prime Minister aware that since my Question was tabled the Minister of Agriculture has announced that the headquarters of the Intervention Board for Agriculture is to be sited at Reading and that when he made that announcement he gave no convincing reason why that new Government Department should not have been sited at Edinburgh, Glasgow or Newcastle? Furthermore, is the right hon. Gentleman aware that according to the May edition of Civil Service News the Hardman Committee is looking only into Departments which can be dispersed and not at possible new sites for Departments. Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake to be as dogmatic and as inflexible as he can on this issue and make a real effort to get Civil Service jobs out of London into the regions?
§ The Prime MinisterWe have made a considerable effort, and the review of the Hardman Committee covers 40 Government Departments employing a staff in London of more than 90,000 engaged on policy work. It is therefore an integral exercise to decide how many of the staff involved and how many of the policy-making Departments involved can be moved to another part of the country without interfering to a considerable extent with the efficiency and the organisation of government. But this is being done, and I hope to receive the report before the end of the year and to make an announcement shortly thereafter.
Although this will infuriate many of the hon. Gentleman's colleagues, on both sides of the House, he must acknowledge that at present Scotland has over 41,000 Civil Service jobs—8 per cent. of the total—and this is the second largest concentration outside London and the South-East.
§ Sir Harmar NichollsEven at this late hour, is it possible to draw the attention of the House to the special claims of Peterborough in this respect? Peterborough is an ancient city which, in order to be a good neighbour to London, is going through the pain and inconvenience of the new towns procedure. Both Labour and Conservative Governments have promised that they will give 238 attention to this sort of help. Will my right hon. Friend keep in mind the promises that have been made?
§ The Prime MinisterI assure my hon. Friend that the Hardman Committee is examining all special cases and special places throughout the country.
§ Mr. David SteelIs the Prime Minister aware that the Secretary of State for the Environment, in his otherwise excellent speech at Stockholm, invited the United Nations to consider establishing its permanent United Nations Environmental Agency in London, although this would not be a contribution to the environment; and, while we shall welcome it in Britain, it ought to be somewhere outside London?
§ The Prime MinisterThe House will recognise that when international bodies are seeking headquarters, they normally seek a site in the capital of the country concerned. There have been some rare occasions when international bodies have been prepared to place their institutions elsewhere. But of course, other places can always be considered.
§ Mr. RidsdaleClacton-on-Sea has an unemployment rate of 9 per cent., which is more than that of Sunderland and almost twice Peterborough's rate. Would my right hon. Friend pay particular attention to seeing that some Government Departments go to that town?
§ The Prime MinisterThe Hardman Committee will note what my hon. Friend has said. It is no doubt aware that many seaside resorts provide suitable accommodation.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganDoes the Prime Minister recollect that in a reply he gave yesterday he showed that the total number of jobs which had been dispersed to development areas was only 1,020, of which only 195 went to Wales. Is this not a miserable record and does it not show that, despite the Government's undertakings in this regard, they have no intention of channelling to these areas, whose needs are so great, the resources so necessary to their development?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. The figure I gave the hon. Gentleman was the figure for dispersals which had taken place in the last two years as a result 239 of decisions taken by the Government during the last two years. A considerable length of time elapses from the moment the decision is taken because of the necessity of making suitable arrangements for staff to move into different houses, to take their families and to arrange for education. What is important is the total size of the programme and I have given those figures to the House previously.