§ 14. Mr. Elystan Morganasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning the implementation of Her Majesty's Government's policies towards Mid-Wales.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasThe Government intend to continue with the policy of concentrating development in the growth towns. I am considering the details of this policy in the light of the Welsh Council's Report on Mid-Wales.
§ Mr. MorganWill the right hon. and learned Gentleman undertake not to use that report as an alibi for further delay? Does he not agree that the report is the most insipid and uninspired effort of the Welsh Council to date and that the recommendation it made that no decision should be taken about the establishment of a development body in Mid-Wales until the effects of the 1972 Industry Act 979 are known is patently false in that up to 1970 there had been a full experiment over a wide range of assistance schemes?
§ Mr. ThomasI am in the process of considering and studying the Welsh Council Report on Mid-Wales. It is too early for me to give my considered views on it but my initial reaction is that my views will differ from those of the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. RoderickWill the Secretary of State stop paying lip service to the growth policy? He has been saying these things for three years and has not yet acted. Will he start implementing some of the policies?
§ Mr. ThomasIf the hon. Gentleman considers the whole of Mid-Wales, he will see that our policy is showing good results.