Assisted Area Status: Criteria (Hansard, 15 April 1993)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Baroness Denton of Wakefield)
My Lords, the consultation paper for the assisted areas map review made clear that the new map will be based on existing travel-to-work areas. However, London is an exceptionally large travel-to-work area and a number of respondents have argued that parts of London should be separately designated. The Government are now considering those and other suggestions in the review.

§ Lord Bethell
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that reply. Is she aware, however, that the unemployment rate in Brent is now nearly 18 per cent., and that the rate in other London boroughs is comparable? Does she agree that it should be possible to reach a decision about assisted area status for parts of London, bearing in mind that it is more than six months since the consultation period ended? Can she tell us when that decision will be reached?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, I am pleased to assure my noble friend that although the consultation period ended six months ago, any change in factors is being taken into account during this period. The review was held up until after the coal review. It has now been dealt with and we shall send the proposal through to Europe for consideration in the future.

§ Lord Mason of Barnsley
My Lords, as the Minister must be aware, serious consideration has to be given before regional aid in assisted area status must be granted because of the cash involved. Does she agree that those who are unemployed in this area are not coal miners, steel workers or agricultural labourers, and that they have never produced a tonne of coal, steel or food for the nation? What exactly did they do? And what qualifications have they for work now?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, I well understand the noble Lord's commitment to his own area. We on our side believe that every person who is unemployed has the right to be helped where possible.

§ Lord Mellish
My Lords, can the noble Baroness say, in regard to special area needs, what is involved in one of the boroughs that has unemployment?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, the main criteria for the assisted area map are based on unemployment figures. Subsequent to that, special area needs are taken into account. But the main criteria are unemployment figures and therefore every borough with those figures is taken into consideration.

Lord Bruce of Donington
My Lords, is it not clear—at any rate in London—that owing to the operation of the standard spending assessment there are already two specially assisted areas in London; to wit, Wandsworth and Westminster?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, I am glad that the noble Lord gives me an opportunity to point out how much specialisation there is in London. There are seven city challenge areas; there are three task force areas; there is a development corporation; there are nine training and enterprise councils; and much urban programme and city grant money. There are indeed differences.

§ Earl Russell
My Lords, is the Minister aware that according to figures quoted by the Kilburn Times, in Carlton ward, Kilburn, 37 per cent. of the population is dependent on means-tested social security benefit? If that is not enough to justify assisted area status, what is?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, I fear that I have to say to the noble Earl that in almost every travel-to-work area there are specific spots of great deprivation and unemployment. The area map is based on the self-containment of labour, so that the overall picture of that area can be looked at, will be looked at, and is being looked at very seriously.

§ Lord Peston
My Lords, does the noble Baroness remember that in the old days we used to say that we could solve our unemployment problem if we could only equalise unemployment rates across the country? Does she agree the Government have achieved that, but unfortunately they have got it the wrong way round, in that they have pushed the rate in the successful areas up to that in the rest of the country's very high unemployment rate areas and that is why we have the problem of Brent and other parts of London? Can she explain to us, given all the measures the Government are taking, why they believe such measures are worth taking, given the scale of unemployment that remains? What are all the quangos actually achieving?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, I am surprised that the noble Lord should come up with the alternative that we should do nothing. The quangos, as he puts it, and all the other bodies, work specifically—I speak of one of which I have experience, the development corporation—to bring energy, resource and focus to a specific problem and support the area in doing it. Regional selective assistance grants are based on supporting the opportunities to bring jobs to the area. They are doing that, and are attracting inward investment.

§ Lord Peston
My Lords, I am sorry that the noble Baroness thinks that my question was intended to 1177 suggest that we should do nothing. I ask her, as opposed to one of her former right honourable friends, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, to consider whether unemployment is best dealt with at the micro-economic level. Is she aware that many of us still believe that the only way to restore full employment in this country is by an expansionary fiscal and monetary policy? Much as I value all the micro-economic policies that she employs, are they not a drop in the ocean compared with what the nation requires?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, we believe that the canvas is necessary. The control of inflation and the growth of competition in our manufacturing industry are key factors. Within that policy, we believe that micro-economic solutions are needed for specific areas.