§ 8. Sir A. Meyerasked the Secretary of State for Wales what representation he has received from local authorities in Wales regarding the present boundaries of assisted areas for industrial development in Wales and for aid to the tourist industry.
§ Mr. John MorrisSince the beginning of 1977 I have received representations from nine local authorities in Wales regarding the present boundaries of assisted areas and from five local authorities regarding aid to the tourist industry.
§ Sir A. MeyerIs the Minister satisfied with an arrangement whereby areas such as Rhyl, in my constituency, which has the highest level of male unemployment, receive the least amount of Government aid and, in particular, no aid at all for their tourist industry? Would it not be very much better to do away with special development areas, intermediate areas and so on and treat the whole of Wales as one development area?
§ Mr. MorrisI do not think that the hon. Gentleman would receive a great deal of approval in the House if he were to convince me that it was the right thing to do, unless he is an advocate, which I am sure he is not, of building an Offa's Dyke to separate Wales from the rest of the United Kingdom. There are different areas in Wales and there are different areas in England. We seek to ensure—though boundaries are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry—that the areas with the gravest problems in terms of numbers and proportions receive the maximum aid. However, we are constantly looking at the areas without the major aids. The area mentioned by the hon. Gentleman is in an intermediate area.
§ Mr. WigleyDoes the Secretary of State accept that, as the definition of grants for industrial purposes has been more or less static for the past 10 or 12 years, the time may now be appropriate to consider the definitions of "industrial" and "service" for the purposes of defining grants in order to do away with the artificial differentiation between one type of job and another, particularly in areas where there have been difficulties in developing jobs?
§ Mr. MorrisThis is a matter primarily for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry. However, he and I are concerned to ensure that the money available is used to the best possible advantage to ensure the maximum number of jobs. But the danger is that the greater the area and the wider the classification, the less the value of any inducements that are offered.
§ Mr. John EllisDoes my right hon. and learned Friend find that in Wales the labour exchange areas are not always the best areas to take for these purposes? Has he had any talks with his Scottish and English fellow Ministers with a view to getting a more workable system that has more relevance than the old labour exchange area had?
§ Mr. MorrisI have tried in Wales to concentrate our policies on the travel-to-work areas. However, I am not aware that the matter raised by my hon. Friend is a significant problem across Wales, though there are one or two areas in which problems might arise.