§ Mr. WigleyI beg to move Amendment No. 167, in page 7, line 2, after 'manufacturing' insert 'extraction or service'.
I shall not detain the House for long. This is an amendment which presented itself in many forms in Committee. The basis of the amendment is that there are many spheres of activity, other than manufacturing activity, where powers may be necessary to safeguard the employment situation in certain areas. This provision should appeal to the Government in the context of regional development programmes.
In the context of extractive industry one thinks of the development of such things as gravel pits and mineral resources, which certainly exist in areas such as mine where there has not been any coherent attempt at developing them in the private sector. Without a shadow of doubt these industries have an economic potential. In my constituency the Gwynedd County Council has shown positive interest in wanting to develop 1332 these industries in the public sector, but it has been precluded from doing so because of the rules under which it operates.
If the NEB and, in the case of Scotland and Wales, the development agencies, are to play an active role in the context of the extractive industries, many of the powers in Clause 2 should also be effective for the extractive as well as the manufacturing concerns. The same is true to some extent in the service sector. There are instances in the service sector, particularly in the tourist trade, where there is a need for specific initiatives by public authorities, and in this case by the NEB, to develop the tourist trade and to bring the maximum possible benefit to areas such as mine—areas of high unemployment and low job opportunity. Such areas can benefit considerably economically from such development.
Amendment No. 167 is put forward because it brings the matter home in the most relevant way in the context of the transfer of control of important concerns to non-residents. If this is true in the manufacturing sector, certainly it is equally true in the extractive and service sectors. Therefore, we have tabled an amendment which inserts after "manufacturing", in the heading the words "extraction or service". If this amendment is accepted consequent amendments might have to be made. In Committee the previous Under-Secretary indicated an interest in this matter, and he was certainly sympathetic. However, there have been no amendments from the Government.
In proposing the amendment I draw the attention of the Secretary of State to the definition of "industry" in the Welsh Development Agency (No. 2) Bill,
industry' includes any description of commercial activity, and any section of an industry and 'industrial' has a corresponding meaning".If that is the meaning and spirit of the WDA and the SDA, and the NEB is their counterpart in England, there should be a broader definition of its rôle. It should certainly extend to some parts of the extractive and service sectors.
§ Mr. CrawfordI agree with what my hon. Friend the Member for Caernarvon (Mr. Wigley) has said. He intended this to be a probing amendment. To a certain 1333 extent we have the same problems in Scotland as our friends have in Wales. I draw the Minister's attention to tourism and the services in connection with financial centres.
In Scotland we rely to a certain extent upon tourism for our economy and we have, as the Minister will know, a large financial centre. On a per capita basis we do more dealings in financial affairs than even the City of London. Therefore, on behalf of the people of Scotland and the Scottish National Party, I should like to hear the Minister's comments on the amendment.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe hon. Member for Caernarvon (Mr. Wigley) has acknowledged that this is a symbolic amendment because, if it were accepted without subsequent amendments to the clause, it would have the effect of making the heading inaccurate. That being so, he will not be surprised to hear that we cannot accept it. However, I understand that he and his hon. Friend the Member for
§ Perth and East Perthshire (Mr. Crawford) —if I may so call him—have intervened because they want to know the Government's attitude to this matter.
§ What I have to say is in a sense consequential on what I said to my hon. Friends regarding their amendment about co-operatives. It is important in considering how we proceed with this legislation, when enacted, that we should not diffuse too far its objectives as laid down in—
§ It being Ten o'clock, the debate stood adjourned.