Northern Region

HC Deb 15 January 1986 vol 89 cc1065-7

9. Mr. Merchant

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much in regional grant aid has been made available to the northern region since 1979.

Mr. Peter Morrison

A total of £913 million in regional grant aid has been made available to the northern region during the period I May 1979 to 30 November 1985.

Mr. Merchant

Will my hon. Friend take this opportunity to reaffirm his personal commitment to beneficial regional aid? Does he agree that his answer gives the lie to those who claim maliciously that the Government have ignored and not helped the northern region? Will he confirm that the Government have given more than £1 billion to the northern region, including inner city aid?

Mr. Morrison

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The northern region benefits more than any other part of the country from our regional policy, and rightly so. Some 97 per cent. of the working population are covered. My hon. Friend's sentiments are correct, whatever anyone else might say.

Mr. Nicholas Brown

Does the Minister agree that, since 1979, 125,000 industrial jobs have been lost in the northern region and that the level of unemployment on Tyneside is among the highest in the country? Can he at least give us the assurance that aid from his Department to the northern region will not be reduced in the next three years?

Mr. Morrison

As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Merchant), the difficulties that the northern region is passing through are onerous, burdensome and personally unappetising to many families and people. That is why our regional policy is directed more towards the northern region than to any other part of Great Britain.

Mr. Fallon

Does my hon. Friend agree that an the 1970s the northern region suffered from indiscriminate regional aid? Can he confirm that the new policy is working well and providing more jobs with the money used?

Mr. Morrison

I agree. When my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State announced the new regional policy, it was directed towards job creation. That has to be the right way in which to target considerable sums of money.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

Will the Minister confirm that in real terms there has been a reduction in regional assistance to the northern region since 1979, although there has been an explosion in unemployment? Will he answer the question yes or no? We do not want a flannel answer?

Mr. Morrison

I shall answer yes, but I hope that the hon. Gentleman will allow me to qualify my answer to the extent that the money, which is still considerable, is now being targeted much more towards job creation.

Mr. Beith

Did the Minister note the remarks of the retiring regional director of his own Department on unemployment? He expressed disquiet over the point that, in London, it seemed that if there were no riots in an area, there were no problems. Did the Minister agree with the emphasis that the regional director put on the need for public sector spending in the north-east? Does he fear that if something is not done we shall merely store up trouble for the future?

Mr. Morrison

I did not see Mr. Atkinson's remarks, but I do not agree with them precisely, as presented by the hon. Gentleman. The northern region gets more regional aid than other parts of the country, in some of which there have been riots.

Mr. Holt

In view of the failure of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to locate Cleveland on the map, and in view of the failure of the Department of the Environment to decide how big the county of Cleveland is, and despite the Government's generosity so far in the northern region, will my hon. Friend confirm that, as the question relates to the availability of money, if any schemes from Cleveland are put forward the Government will not be ungenerous but will consider them sympathetically?

Mr. Morrison

Regardless of what my hon. Friend says about Cleveland, he can rest assured that the county of Cleveland is well put on the map, by himself, constantly. The level of money given out depends on the number of applications. I shall be delighted to consider as many applications as I can.

Mr. Ryman

The Minister has not been in the Department for very long, so he may not be fully briefed. Does he not appreciate that the origin of the trouble is that in 1979 the then Conservative Secretary of State for Trade abolished the special development area status of Blyth Valley, which includes Blyth and Cramlington. so wrongly earmarking regional aid? Consequently unemployment in Blyth Valley has risen astronomically as a direct result of the asinine regional policy of the Conservative Government.

Mr. Morrison

I am well aware that the hon. Gentleman puts forward the case of his constituents assiduously. I know Cramlington, Blyth and Blyth Valley. Unless I am gravely mistaken—and the hon. Gentleman will correct me immediately if I am—he will be aware that his part of the country gets regional aid to the greatest extent that is still possible.

Mr. Neil Hamilton

Is my hon. Friend aware that in the recent review of regional policy his constituency was included in the map for selective assistance and mine was excluded—

Mr. Speaker

Order. Is the hon. Gentleman's constituency in the north?

Mr. Hamilton

Yes. Can my hon. Friend tell me what advantage might accrue from increasing unemployment in my constituency so as to reduce it in his own?

Mr. Morrison

I am aware of the situation that my hon. Friend mentions because he and I have constituencies at either end of Cheshire. As he will be aware, the decisions were taken quite a substantial time before I became Minister of State.

Mr. O'Neill

Does the Minister agree that the year to year figures for regional aid prove that the real value of regional aid has not just been cut in the northern region since 1979 but has been halved, as it has in every other depressed region? When will the Minister of State bring to the House the review proposals on regional aid that were promised by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry? When will the Government start increasing regional aid instead of continuing over the next three years their policy of making cuts?

Mr. Morrison

As I have said to other hon. Members, regional aid policy is now directed specifically towards job creation. As to when the review will be brought to the House, the answer is that it will be conducted during the year. The policy has been in existence for only 12 months. I cannot tell the hon. Member precisely when the review results will be ready. I hope that it will be towards the end of the year, but I cannot be held to that at this stage.

Mr. Wrigglesworth

As the figure given by the Minister earlier contains a concealed dramatic decline in support for the northern region during the Government's term of office at a time when there has been an equally dramatic increase in unemployment, and as the number of grants depends upon the number of applications, can the Minister tell us what his Department proposes to do to increase the number of applications from the northern region and to increase the number of new businesses created there?

Mr. Morrison

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State has made a particular issue of regional aid. He has made it abundantly clear to all and sundry that he is keen that there should be as many applications as possible. That is the message that has gone out to all regional offices, including the northern region.