§ 8. Mr. Bestasked the Secretary of State for Wales what part of the £48 million allocated for industrial development in the steel areas of South Wales was due to be spent in 1980–81; and how much was actually spent.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsA total of £24.8 million was to be spent during 1980–81—£21.7 million by the Welsh Development Agency and £3.1 million by the Cwmbran development corporation. Both bodies spent their full allocation.
§ Mr. BestWill my right hon. Friend try to extract at least some grudging praise from the Jeremiahs of the Opposition in an acknowledgement that this is the largest investment programme for Wales that has ever been seen in the Principality? Will he go further and convince the people of Wales that there will be the same level of investment for the Principality next year? May I ask him to give that commitment today?
§ Mr. EdwardsMy hon. Friend is aware that we had approximately half of the special programme in the first year and that there will be a substantial programme in the coming year. I was hoping that I would extract from the Opposition an apology for their early-day motion tabled earlier in the year in which they confidently forecast that there would be an underspend in the £24.8 million programme.
§ Mr. Roy HughesAre not these figures a flea bite compared with the calamitous proportions that unemployment has reached? Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the people are fed up with the Government's economic policies, as the county council elections clearly revealed last Thursday? Will he bear in mind that in a steel making area such as Newport only one Conservative candidate was returned?
§ Mr. EdwardsThe hon. Gentleman may consider that the figures amount to a flea bite. However, his constituency is getting a large chunk of the capital programme that is being spent. It has benefited considerably by the arrival of some major new industries. I wonder whether his judgment will be shared by the many people who will be gaining employment in his constituency as a result of the Government's spending programme.
§ Mr. Alec JonesWe welcome the right hon. Gentleman's statement about Government spending. Will he inform the House how much of that money was spent on building and how much on the acquisition of land?
§ Mr. EdwardsOf the detailed programme that was announced by the Government at the beginning of the year, in which we set out the allocation, 90 per cent. of the factory space that was announced is under construction and the remainder will shortly be started. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, there is a substantial building programme. I suppose that I must take his intervention as his apology for making such an absurd allegation earlier that we would not spend the money that needed to be spent.