HC Deb 10 April 1978 vol 947 cc966-7
18. Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what further plans he has to increase industrial investment on Merseyside.

Mr. Alan Williams

Industrial investment on Merseyside qualifies for assistance at the highest level in Great Britain since it was made a special development area in 1974.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

Does my right hon. Friend accept that Merseyside's already extremely narrow industrial base is being further eroded by announcements of closures and redundancies and that urgent action is desperately needed? Does he also accept that he should take into consideration the establishment of a Merseyside development agency, review regional policy and take on a major promotional campaign to point out the important features that Merseyside has to offer to industrialists, both in Britain and abroad seeking a location?

Mr. Williams

I understand entirely the strength of genuine feeling of my hon. Friend and his colleagues on this issue. It is important to bear in mind that the problem of Merseyside is not that we have been incapable of getting new jobs there. The difficulty has been our inability to save the jobs already on Merseyside. It may come as a surprise to many when I say that last year 30 new firms established themselves on Merseyside. In the past two years we have let 37 factories. Vauxhall has been expanded by 2,000 jobs. At present YKK is expanding, and the Co-operative Bank is going into the area with 600 jobs. If only we were not losing industries in the area, the record would be satisfactory. The loss is substantially due to the world recession.

Mr. Heffer

Does my right hon. Friend agree that, despite all the tremendous and excellent efforts made by the Government to create employment on Merseyside, there is deep anger among workers on Merseyside, as expressed at the conference yesterday that was held by the trades council, during which it was decided to take a number of steps to bring the position to the Government's attention? Is it not clear that the private enterprise set-up has failed the nation and that we need to extend the publicly owned industries into Merseyside through the National Enterprise Board to set up the development and creation of new jobs?

Mr. Williams

As my hon. Friend is aware, we have only recently given extra powers to the NEB. It is entirely up to the board to decide how it wishes to allocate its resources. As hon. Members are aware, the board, under its guidelines, must take into account the unemployment needs and problems of regions. I am sure that the points that my hon. Friend and his colleagues have been making will be noted by the board.