HC Deb 23 January 1984 vol 52 cc622-3
10. Mr. Terlezki

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many new jobs were created in Cardiff in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

Comprehensive information is not available, particularly about the continuing increase in the number of jobs in tourism and the retail and service sector. However, for the period 1 October 1982 to 30 September 1983, projects for which offers of selective financial assistance have been accepted or which were allocated Government factories in the Cardiff travel-to-work area promise to provide 1,300 jobs. In addition, more jobs may be expected to arise in the manufacture and service sectors as a result of urban development grant.

Mr. Terlezki

I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend and most appreciative of his reply. It is encouraging to know that unemployment in Cardiff is falling, as I dare say will continue to be the case in future years. I am most interested, as no doubt is the whole House, in the south Butetown redevelopment scheme. How quickly will my right hon. Friend be able to approve the scheme, how many jobs will be created when it gets under way and how many jobs will subsequently be created when the scheme is completed?

Mr. Edwards

It is a matter of great satisfaction that the initiative that I asked Michael Roberts to prepare in the autumn of 1982, and which I announced to the House just under a year ago, has made such satisfactory progress and that a proposal is now coming forward from the local authorities. I shall deal with the application for UDG as quickly as I can and I do not expect any great delay. It would not be right to make a job estimate at present, but a £50 million initial development in the area will clearly provide great scope for job creation.

Mr. Allan Rogers

Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake the much easier ministerial function of telling us how many jobs have been lost in Cardiff in the past year and in south Wales generally since the Government came to power in 1979?

Mr. Edwards

The unemployment figures are well known and it is clear that a significant number of jobs have been lost. Nevertheless, it is, and should be, a matter for satisfaction that there is a rising tide of new job creation, that an all-time record of more than 2 million sq ft of factory space in Government factories will have been allocated this year, that the number of selective financial assistance cases is rising and that a considerable number of new major projects, including inward investment projects, have already been announced.