§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will meet representatives of the textile industry to discuss with them the impact of energy and oil feedstock prices on the domestic production of synthetic fibres. 556W constituency in 1980 and for each of the last five years; what amount this represents for each member of the working population in the area; and what was the comparable figure for the West Midlands and the United Kingdom as a whole.
§ Mr. MacGregorSince Wolverhampton is not an assisted area for the purposes of the Industry Act 1972, neither regional development grant nor regional selective assistance is payable there.
The only assisted area in the West Midlands is Oswestry and gross expenditure on regional preferential assistance there has averaged about £0.3 million in the financial years 1975–76 to 1979–80.
In the United Kingdom as a whole gross expenditure on regional preferential assistance has been as follows:
§ Mr. MacGregorthe Government have worked closely with the United Kingdom textile industry to assess the impact of oil and gas feedstock and process energy prices, notably those favouring United States synthetic fibres producers, on the industry and will continue to do so.