HC Deb 17 January 1990 vol 165 cc282-3
6. Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grant he proposes to offer to the Northern Development Company in 1990–91.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

rose—

Hon. Members

Oh, no.

Mr. Hogg

I know that hon. Members will enjoy this. As I told the House on 6 December in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Trotter), I expect to announce the level of grant in March.

Mr. Cousins

Does the Minister accept that his answer has more twists in it than the Lambton worm? We do not have a development agency in our region. We have built one ourselves using the resources of local people. We need another £2.5 million over the next three years to promote the second industrial revolution in the region. We want to do it for ourselves, but the Government will not give us the money. The Minister should spare us the lectures and put the cheque in the post.

Mr. Hogg

The hon. Gentleman is an engaging character, but in two respects he does himself no credit. First, as he has not told us about the very substantial increase in DTI funding for the Northern Development Company over the past few years, I shall do so, In 1981–82 funding of the NDC was £230,000. In 1989–90, inclusive of core funding, it is £1.182 million, which is a fivefold increase.

Secondly, unemployment in the hon. Gentleman's region has fallen by 3 percentage points during the past 12 months. The hon. Gentleman might have mentioned that.

Mr. Trotter

Does my hon. Friend acknowledge the self-support provided by the region to the Northern Development Company and the funding provided by local firms and local authorities? May I remind him of the development corporation's success story, and ask him to support it on a longer-term basis? I point out to my hon. Friend the difficulties of budgeting for only one year at a time, and ask for his support for the suggestion that there should be a three-year finance programme.

Finally, may I ask my right hon. Friend to recognise the excellent support—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I asked for briefer questions, and the hon. Gentleman has asked at least three.

Mr. Hogg

My hon. Friend deserves some good news, and that is what he shall get. As to the rolling programme to which he refers, he will know that on 2 October 1989, I wrote to the regional development organisations accepting the proposal for a three-year funding programme which meets precisely the point that my hon. Friend so eloquently put.