§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the number of firms known to his Department who have moved from London and the South-East to development areas in the last two years; how many new jobs these firms created in the development areas; how many redundancies these firms created in London and the South-East; and how many of those redundant workers have been found new employment.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkI understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry that in 1970 and 1971, the most recent years for which the information is available, 31 establishments are known to have been opened in development areas by firms which closed or intended to close manufacturing establishments in the South-East Economic Planning Region.
In 1971, the 31 establishments employed 2,500 workers in development areas. They have only been in operation in their new locations for a comparatively short time and further growth in the employment they provide can reasonably be expected.
I regret that the information required to answer the latter part of the hon. Member's Question is not readily available.