HC Deb 01 March 1976 vol 906 cc897-8
7. Mr. Crawford

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is satisfied with the liaison between the Scottish Development Agency and the National Enterprise Board.

Mr. Kaufman

Yes, Sir. Officials of my Department and of other Departments concerned have had extensive consultations with officials of the NEB and of the Scottish and Welsh Development Agencies in order to establish satisfactory working relations.

Mr. Crawford

Does the Minister agree that the economic potentials of Scotland and England are now totally divergent? Does he not further agree that, because of Scotland's potential to expand and England's stagnation, it is vital for the Scottish Development Agency to be totally independent of the "lame duck" NEB? Does he agree that new jobs and new factories in Scotland can best be created by an expansionist policy rather than one that is dependent on a London-orientated, central demand management of the United Kingdom economy as a whole?

Mr. Kaufman

I do not accept the basis of the hon. Gentleman's question. Parliament decided the basis on which the NEB and the Scottish Development Agency should operate.

Mr. William Hamilton

Will my hon. Friend confirm that there is nothing in recent Government announcements to indicate that diminished resources will be available to the Scottish Development Agency, as has been asserted by certain hon. Members? Will the Minister take steps to ensure that the Scottish Development Agency retrains General Electric Company workers who are now redundant as a result of a diminution in Post Office orders, so that those workers can produce the new equipment that the Post Office urgently needs?

Mr. Kaufman

Questions about the Scottish Development Agency are for the Secretary of State for Scotland to answer, but I take an interest in the Post Office-supplying industries, and I take on board what my hon. Friend has said.

Mr. Alexander Fletcher

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Scottish Development Agency is more concerned with local government and the regeneration of the environment in Scotland, and does not have the resources or ability to regenerate Scottish industry?

Mr. Kaufman

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has withdrawn from the position he took when he and his party voted for the NEB to be kept out of Scotland. That was a totally opportunist vote.

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