§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Denis Healey)On the other hand, we have decided to add to expenditure in two areas which we believe should have the highest priority—incentives to promote industrial investment and expansion, and measures to reduce unemployment.
There will be an increase in the resources of the National Enterprise Board 1531 and the Scottish and Welsh Development Agencies. A new selective investment scheme will be introduced to follow up the very successful Accelerated Projects Scheme. It will give help to manufacturing companies for major projects designed to improve capacity and performance. I shall allocate £100 million to this scheme in the first instance. The money will be spent over a period of years. The rate at which it is spent will depend on how many good projects come forward for support.
Further money will also be made available for additional sectoral schemes in support of the industrial strategy, and for other measures to help industry. Taken together, I have allocated £80 million in each of the next two years for these measures to help industry.
There will be an increase of £120 million in 1977–78 in spending on measures to reduce unemployment. New applications for the Temporary Employment Subsidy are to close at the end of this months and for the Job Creation Programme shortly after. We have decided to extend these two schemes to the end of April, and then to review their future along with the other new schemes which the Government have recently introduced. This additional expenditure will more than offset the impact on unemployment next year of the other measures which I have announced and will mean that the net effect of the whole package will he to reduce unemployment during 1977 compared with what it would otherwise be.