§ Mr. McGuireasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT the 85 areas at present receiving Government aid which have a lower rate of unemployment than the Wigan travel-to-work area, giving in each case the type of aid given, the current rate of unemployment and the rate when aid was first announced, the date of the beginning of such aid and the reasons advanced at the time; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir J. Eden:Unemployment statistics are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment. Of the 85 employment exchange areas, 68 were designated by the previous Administration in 1966 as areas where special measures are necessary to encourage the development of industry, having regard to all the circumstances actual and expected, including the state of employment and unemployment, population changes, migration and the objectives of regional policies. The remaining 17 areas —15 in 1970 and two in 1971—were designated as intermediate areas, i.e. areas where special measures are necessary to encourage industrial development, but whose economic problems are not so acute as to justify the whole range of development area incentives. Full information about development area and inter- mediate area financial incentives is included in "Incentives for Industry", a copy of which I am sending to the hon. Member.