HC Deb 11 April 1984 vol 58 c375
9. Mr. James Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he will next meet the chairman of the Scottish Development Agency to discuss the job prospects for Lanarkshire.

Mr. Allan Stewart

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mr. Craigen). Job prospects for Scotland in general as well as for particular areas will no doubt feature in the discussions on 1 June.

Mr. Hamilton

Does the Minister accept that there is recognition of the work that he has done to retain the Terex factory taken over by General Motors? We are magnanimous in thanking him for that. However, does he recognise that Lanarkshire is now designated as an industrial desert? Will he talk to the chairman of the SDA with a view to getting factories built and getting the unemployed people in the construction industry back to work and, subsequently, when the factories are built, getting people into production, the revenue for which could come from North sea oil?

Mr. Stewart

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for what he said about Terex, and I am sure that he would be the first to agree about the important role played by the shop stewards and the trade union officials in achieving the success of that company. As to the SDA in Lanarkshire, it realises the priority that Lanarkshire deserves through the integrated projects at Motherwell and Coatbridge, which together have budgets totalling over £80 million, and the agency support for the Lanarkshire industrial field executive and the Motherwell enterprise trust. Of course, we have been discussing these matters with the agency.