HC Deb 14 May 1986 vol 97 cc689-90
2. Mr. Rogers

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the latest situation within the tin mining industry.

The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Mr. Peter Morrison)

The Department has received applications for assistance from Geevor and RTZ. We have already made it clear that we will give urgent consideration to projects designed to make the mines competitive in the new market situation.

Mr. Rogers

Will the Minister constantly bear in mind the importance of the tin industry to an area which already has severe unemployment and a fragile economy? Will the Government give an undertaking to help that area and the tin industry, and not turn their back on it as they have done with most other British industries, are about to do with the shipbuilders, and as the Minister for Trade did on the question from my hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens, North (Mr. Evans)?

Mr. Morrison

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I know the area. I have visited the tin mines and have been down them. I am more than aware of the implications of those tin mines having to close. That is precisely why we are looking very carefully at the applications that have been put to our Department.

Mr. Harris

Will my hon. Friend accept my thanks for his response to my personal plea that the Government should find some money to enable Geevor's pumps to keep going while the application is being considered? When he considers the application from Geevor and from Carnon Consolidated, will he bear in mind the phrase from the Select Committee on Trade and Industry, when it said that it believed that the Cornish tin industry was worth saving, because the whole of Cornwall believes that as well?

Mr. Morrison

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for referring to the fact that, with the Cornish county council, we have been able to provide a period of some four weeks to look at the development of Geevor tin mine's application. Certainly my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I will bear in mind what the Select Committee said on this important subject.

Mr. Penhaligon

Does the Minister have any idea how weak his answer to the fundamental question posed appears to those in Cornwall? We recognise that Government decisions sometimes take longer than many of us would desire, but some six and a half months have passed since the crisis started. There have been numerous meetings—I pay homage to the Minister for having the meetings—but no decision has appeared. People in the far south-west are wondering just when the Government expect to reach a conclusion. Can the Minister give us some idea of when he expects the review to be completed?

Mr. Morrison

With respect, the hon. Gentleman is being less than fair. He will be aware that RTZ put in its application less than two weeks ago. It is impossible to decide whether an application is viable until we receive it and look at it carefully. He should also be aware, after meetings that I have had with the trade unions, that they would want us to look at those applications very carefully and not rush them.

Mr. Williams

Nevertheless, it is six months since the Minister saw the crisis emerging. How much more governmental dither and indifference must Cornwall suffer? The Government have taken millions of pounds in regional aid from the south-west in the past few years, and plan to take millions more in the next few years. Is it not time that they put some of that money back?

Mr. Morrison

By the tone of his question, the right hon. Gentleman wants me just to say no without looking very carefully at the viability of the applications. I am looking carefully. I am encouraging the companies to come forward with viable applications. That is what they and the trade unions would want me to do.