§ Mr. Blakerasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many applications for industrial development certificates were received in 1966; and how many were refused;
(2) how many applications for industrial development certificates in the north-west region were received in 1966; and how many were refused.
§ Mr. Darling3,212 applications for projects over 5,000 sq. ft. were approved during 1966, of which 429 were for the north-west region. It is not the practice of the Board of Trade to publish statistics of the total number of applications received or refused or the totals for regions which include congested356W areas, as such figures would be misleading. Because of the tough i.d.c. policy in the more congested areas, many firms are dissuaded from applying or do not press their applications to the point of formal refusal.