HC Deb 16 July 1986 vol 101 cc987-9
6. Mr. Holt

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many, and at what total value, grants have been made to existing and new businesses in Cleveland in each of the past 12 years.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. John Butcher)

Over £470 million in regional assistance grants has been paid by this Department to businesses in Cleveland in the past 12 years. I have arranged for the figures for each scheme of assistance for each year to be published in the Official Report.

Mr. Holt

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. It seems to show that all Governments have put money into Cleveland, but Cleveland continues to have the highest unemployment. Does that not reflect on the Socialist subculture in that region, which denies so much to the entrepreneur who would go there and set up businesses?

Mr. Butcher

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his vigorous defence of the interests of Langbaurgh and the residents of Cleveland. That may have something to do with the fact that six Ministers, including two Secretaries of State, will have visited the region between 14 July and 5 August. Having made 15 visits myself over the past 48 hours to different organisations in the region, I can say that there is a clearer appreciation among all parties there that the enterprise spirit will be the basis for future jobs and that, in conjuction with the public sector, private enterprise can flourish.

Mr. Frank Cook

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on visiting Cleveland at long last this week, despite the fact that it has taken since before Christmas for him to do so. What were his impressions on industrial development there as a result of the knowledge he gained from his visit to the polytechnic's design department?

Mr. Butcher

As the hon. Gentleman knows, some controversy surrounds that department. Having visited it yesterday, I must say that I was impressed by the capability of the staff and students and by the determination of that department, in conjunction with the business studies section, to mount an exercise on behalf of local companies to ascertain whether they can source new products into the region. That seems to be at the heart of what we are all trying to achieve for Middlesbrough and for the Cleveland area generally. I am aware of the hon. Gentleman's representations on another matter. 1 have been in contact with my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science—the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Walden)—about it.

Mr. Thurnham

Is my hon. Friend aware of the call by a former Member for Cleveland—my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Brittan)— for a regional development agency to be set up in the north of England? Is he aware of the response to early-day motion 1030 in my name calling for such a regional development agency for the north-west?

Mr. Butcher

As my hon. Friend will know, whether we are talking of the north-west or of the north-east, that is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment to consider in terms of lead policy decisions at the Department of the Environment. We shall have to await the outcome of his considerations. For the time being, I hope that my hon. Friend will agree that it would not be wise to comment on a number of conjectural points made in recent days.

Mr. Alan Williams

Have any jobs or job opportunities arisen from this belated spate of visits by Ministers? Did any of those Ministers during their visits to the north reveal that the Government are relenting and are willing to return to the north the £180 million that they will steal from its regional funding over the next five-year period?

Mr. Butcher

That was a travesty of the true position. I repeat: to put £470 million into one economic sub-region the size of Cleveland is a very dramatic spend. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will be a little more responsible in supporting the efforts of any party in any sector of the economy to ascertain how to achieve a better job creation rate for the money spent and to ascertain how that links with what the private sector would wish to do in partnership with public sector expenditure, for example on the rehabilitation of land. A number of the issues which we discussed, not just as part of an alleged "recent" attention to this area, were specifically targeted on the creation of jobs from three sources—inward investment, the birth of new businesses and the expansion of jobs among existing employers.

Following are the figures:

Payments of Regional Assistance in Cleveland: 1974–75 to 1985–86
£' million
Regional Development Grants (a) Regional Selective Assistance Business Improvement Services (b) Totals
1974–75 N/A 0.26 — —
1975–76 N/A 0.76 — —
1976–77 81.3 2.04 — 83.3
1977–78 66.3 1.32 — 67.6
1978–79 68.9 1.94 — 70.8
1979–80 61.6 3.13 — 64.7
1980–81 43.7 1.44 — 45.1
1981–82 43.7 1.48 — 45.2
1982–83 22.8 1.25 — 24.1
1983–84 22.6 2.17 — 24.8
1984–85 22.5 4.82 0.003 27.3
1985–86 9.5 5.62 0.049 15.2
Total 442.9 26.23 0.052 469.2

Notes:

(a) Figures not available for years prior to 1976–77. For the remaining years the sums noted are the totals of payments of £25,000 or more. Payments below £25,000 are not recorded below the level of region. The years 1984–85 and 1985–86 include all payments made under new RDG.

(b) Business Improvement Services Scheme Grants were introduced in 1984–85.