HC Deb 11 May 1994 vol 243 cc310-1
10. Mr. Devlin

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the expected benefits to the north-east from regional assistance.

Mr. Sainsbury

Regional selective assistance is expected to continue to contribute to job creation and the safeguarding of jobs in the north-east.

Mr. Devlin

Quite aside from the fact that the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) is entirely wrong in his history, may I ask my hon. Friend to confirm that his view of the future is also wrong, inasmuch as regional selective assistance is now creating up to 16,000 jobs in the northern region and 175 companies currently have an offer of regional enterprise grant? Is he aware that one of the 40 companies that have successfully obtained that assistance from his Department is today expanding its number of employees from two to five? Surely that shows the seed corn of future prosperity in the region and in the United Kingdom generally?

Mr. Sainsbury

I am happy to confirm the figure that my hon. Friend quoted. It is a remarkable tribute to the success of the regional selective assistance programme that there are 16,000 jobs in the north-east in current RSA projects. It is not irrelevant to the question asked by the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) that, since 1979, 36,000 jobs in the north-east have been associated with inward investment. I suppose that if they were in Dutch companies, the hon. Gentleman would not have allowed them in.

Mr. Milburn

Is not the Minister aware that the level of industrial assistance to the north-east has almost halved since 1979 under his Government? How on earth does he expect the potential of regions such as the north or towns such as Darlington, to be realised when his Government are actively disinvesting from them? When will he realise that spreading economic prosperity to all the regions and all the nations of the United Kingdom relies on active Government?

Mr. Sainsbury

The most important factors for the economic success of the north-east, and of the whole country, are having a sensible tax climate and sensible industrial relations and avoiding the social chapter—all of which the Labour party would not do. May I perhaps remind the hon. Gentleman that £1.5 billion of Government money in the form of regional aid has gone into the north-east since 1979?