§ 5. Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if, in view of the proposed closure of the No Nail Boxes Ltd. factory at Saltney with the loss of 150 jobs, he will meet the Alyn and Deeside district council and the Welsh Development Agency to draw up a programme to create new job prospects on the Saltney industrial estate: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsI shall continue my practice of regular meetings with local authorities in the area. I have recently approved a further programme of factory building by the Welsh Development Agency in the Shotton area amounting to 212,000 sq ft.
§ Mr. JonesDoes the right hon. Gentleman know that 2,500 redundancies have already been announced this year for the area between Chester and Mostyn in my constituency? In what way can he direct the WDA to bring new work to the Saltney industrial estate? Does he agree that the No Nail. Boxes board behaved in a sneaky and ungenerous manner by not telling its work force of its talks with the Welsh Office about its application for special financial assistance?
§ Mr. EdwardsEight factories in Alyn and Deeside have been either confirmed or provisionally allocated this year. The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that this morning WIDAB recommended that BICC should be given a grant of £735,000. Subsequently, the boards of BICC and Corning Glassware Inc. have announced that they will go ahead with the project in Deeside to provide 150 skilled jobs, which will bring new technology to the area.
§ Sir Anthony MeyerI am proud to say that Mostyn is in my constituency, not in the constituency of the hon. Member for Flint, East (Mr. Jones). Will my right hon. Friend note that that thriving and go-ahead port has gone from strength to strength since it was relieved from the threat contained in the Labour Government's Dock Work Regulation Act 1976?
§ Mr. EdwardsI am delighted to hear that. Mostyn can be sure that under this Government it will be given every encouragement.