HC Deb 27 March 1985 vol 76 c476
19. Mr. Beith

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will bring forward new proposals to assist industrial development in Amble.

Mr. Norman Lamont

I have no plans for proposals specifically to assist industrial development in Amble, although companies there are, of course, able to take advantage of nationwide Government schemes of assistance for industry in exactly the same way as companies anywhere else, provided that they meet the relevant criteria.

Mr. Beith

As the Minister says, those forms of assistance are nationwide and available to all the competing areas with far lower levels of unemployment. Will he come and look for himself, and realise that his decision to exclude Amble from regional development status was a mistake and is something that he should rectify?

Mr. Lamont

We are not planning to review the map again so soon after we announced the decision. The hon. Gentleman has raised this matter on several occasions during Question Time and on Adjournment debates. He knows the reasons why we decided to exclude Amble. I am afraid that the matter cannot be reconsidered at the moment.