HC Deb 19 April 1982 vol 22 cc4-5
3. Mr. Foulkes

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he is satisfied with the operation of the Welsh Development Agency within the guidlines set by him.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

I shall be discussing the agency's future strategy and operations tomorrow with the board of the agency, but I am satisfied with its achievements to date.

Mr. Foulkes

Does the Secretary of State agree that the Welsh Development Agency, like the Scottish Development Agency, has had its effectiveness greatly reduced by the restraints put on it by the Government? Will he discuss with the agency tomorrow the possibility of widening its powers and increasing its resources so that it can deal effectively with the high level of unemployment in Wales?

Mr. Edwards

I find it hard to accept that the agency's effectiveness has been reduced when 836 advance factories have been completed since its inception, 684 of them in the period since may 1979. That is more than three times as much factory space as in the period from January 1976 to May 1979. As I have said, I shall be discussing with the board tomorrow the scope of its future activities.

Mr. Grist

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the work of the development agency would be severely reduced if this country left the European community, as the Labour Party urges?

Mr. Edwards

I entirely agree. Indeed, I have just come from a lunch with the CBI, which estimates that it would mean the loss of 1 million jobs.

Mr. Alec Jones

Does the Secretary of State recall that when we last discussed the Welsh Development Agency, in the Welsh Grand Committee in July last year, he indicated that he was asking the new chairman of the agency to undertake a review of its investment policy, and also expressed the hope that the agency would be prepared to take risks? Will the Secretary of State now tell us the result of that inquiry? Is he satisfied that the agency has sufficient powers and is using them to preserve existing firms and industries in Wales?

Mr. Edwards

I shall be discussing precisely those issues with the agency tomorrow. The agency has produced a paper setting out certain proposals. It proposed to set up an investment subsidiary to assist it in its tasks. It has carried out exactly the remit that I asked it to undertake.

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