HC Deb 16 May 1973 vol 856 cc1504-5
28. Mr. Douglas

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, by economic planning regions, the number of oil refineries for which planning permission has been granted since 1970.

Mr. Graham Page

I have consulted my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales; I understand that in addition to the two permissions for new refineries granted in south-east England one was granted in Wales; there was none in any other economic planning region.

Mr. Douglas

Will the right hon. Gentleman not concede that the expansion of oil activity offshore makes it essential that we get away from the concentration of oil refineries in the South-East, which is harmful to the population there? We should be able to build relatively pollution-free refineries in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Page

I have little doubt that there may be application for oil refineries which will be convenient to North Sea oil. However, it is for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to decide on industrial development certificates. Certainly, the last permission which was given in the South-East was to replace an existing permission which would have located a refinery in a far worse place, and which was granted as long ago as 1965.

Mr. Spearing

Does the right hon. Gentleman recall that his right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State said that there would be no oil refinery developments at Maplin but that nevertheless, since that statement, he has given permission and has overruled his inspector's recommendation that there should be no oil refinery on Canvey Island? Was that the refinery to which the Minister just referred, or was that a new development? If it is a new development, is it not wrong that it should be located in that area, in contradiction of the right hon. Gentleman's previous ban?

Mr. Page

The one I referred to was indeed the refinery on Canvey Island. The recent permission given took the place of the permission originally given in 1965. The latest permission is in respect of a much better place, because it leaves a wide gap between South Benfleet and Canvey Island.