§ Mr. Chetwyndasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the number of new factory projects in the North-East development area which have been abortive or have not developed beyond the inquiry stage; and if he will state the reasons for this.
Mr. H. WilsonSince 1945 well over 1,000 firms have been invited to consider the advantage of occupying factories in the North-East development area, and about 250 of them are now established there. It is not possible to give any detailed analysis of the reasons why the remaining projects failed to materialise.
§ Mr. Chetwyndasked the President of the Board of Trade the number of industrial concerns in the North-East development area which are receiving priority treatment in the supply of raw materials and in the disposal of the finished product.
Mr. H. WilsonI regret that this information is not available but it has, of course, been the practice for many years for the Departments responsible for allocating controlled materials to give a measure of preference to development area firms. Similarly on the matter of the disposal of the finished product, my hon. Friend is no doubt aware that for many years purchasing Departments have, 77W all things being equal, given preference to the development areas in awarding Government contracts.
§ Mr. Chetwyndasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the number of new factories and extensions completed, under construction and approved in the North-East development area for Government and privately financed projects.
Mr. H. Wilson
FACTORIES IN THE NORTH EASTERN DEVELOPMENT AREA (SINCE JUNE, 1945) — Approved Under construction Completed Government finance. 152 15 132 Private finance. 284 69 153 TOTAL 436 84 285
§ Mr. Chetwyndasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the number of men and women employed in new factories in the North-East development area; what additional employment has been provided; and what is the target when all factories under construction and approved are completed.
Mr. H. WilsonTen thousand four hundred men and 11,600 women were employed on the 31st December, 1949, in the new factories and extensions completed since the war in the North-Eastern development area. It is estimated that jobs for 30,000 men and 25,000 women will have been provided when all the new factories and extensions approved for this development area are in full production. In addition, 13,200 jobs for men and 13,000 for women had been provided at the 31st December, 1949, in other postwar developments, including surplus war factories leased to industry or converted to industrial estates.