HC Deb 24 July 1973 vol 860 cc381-2W
Mr. McBride

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new jobs have been created in the Swansea exchange area in each year since 1970; and what percentage of these is as a result of Government policies.

Mr. Anthony Grant

Accurate figures for jobs created are not available owing to the lack of information on the service sector, in which approximately half the insured employees in Swansea work, and to the discontinuance of industrial development certificate control in development areas in July 1972. In the past year vacancies notified to the Department of Employment in the Swansea travel-to-work area have more than trebled.

Mr. Hardy

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the total number of jobs provided in industrial development in Yorkshire and Humberside with which his Department was or is concerned, and the proportion of such development generated both from within and from outside the region.

Mr. Anthony Grant

Between 1st March 1972 and 30th June 1973 380 IDCs were approved, from which it was expected that 19,040 jobs, including 11,460 for males, were likely to arise when the projects were complete and fully manned. Of these, 17 IDCs were for manufacturing firms established in other parts of the country proposing to establish units in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region. These 17 IDCs account for 2,470 jobs, including 605 for males, within the total. None of the above employment figures take into account jobs arising in the service sector and in existing industrial buildings.

During the same period, 46 offers of assistance under Section 7 of the Industry Act were made which were expected to give rise to 4,224 jobs. Of these jobs—which are not necessarily additional to those arising from the grant of IDCs—3,274 were of local origin, 732 arose from locally established firms moving projects into from outside the region, and 218 arose from projects originating entirely outside the region. Grants offered under the Local Employment Act during the period were made in respect of projects estimated to provide 4,965 jobs but information on the origin of these projects is not readily available.