HC Deb 26 May 1977 vol 932 cc595-6W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what attempts have been made by his Department to indicate the facilities available on Merseyside to foreign companies looking for a United Kingdom location.

Mr. Cryer

The policy of this Government, as it has been of their predecessors, is to encourage direct investment into the United Kingdom on a national basis. Location is a matter for the commercial judgment of the investor. The

1973 1974 1975 1976 January-June Total
No. No. No. No. No. Emp.
(i) SCOTLAND
Dumfries and Galloway 1 1 — — 5 100
Borders …… 1 — 1 1 34 1,250
Strathclyde …… 13 8 9 4
Central …… — — — 1 13 400
Lothian …… 4 5 2 1
Fife …… 2 3 4 — 9 150
Tayside … … 3 — 1 — 8 200
Grampian … … 1 — 1 —
Highland … … 1 — — —
Western Isles … … — — 1 —
Orkney … … — — — —
Shetland … … — — — —
No. Emp. No. Emp. No. Emp. No. Emp.
TOTAL … … 26 950 17 300 19 700 7 250 69 2,150
1973 1974 (January 1975-June 1976) Total
No. Emp. No. Emp. No. Emp. No. Emp.
(ii) South-East England … … 5 250 7 250 8 450 20 950

Notes:

  1. (i) This table does not include employment arising in the service sector either as a result of expenditure by the new manufacturing establishments or by those employed by them, nor that arising from the inward movement of service enterprises; nor does it include additional employment in manufacturing in existing enterprises supplying the incoming firms.
  2. (ii) Some figures of employment cannot be quoted individually without a breach of confidence: they have therefore only been included (rounded individually to the nearest 50) in the two columns headed 'Total'. Hence the row and column totals for the employment figures differ.
  3. (iii) One reason why the figures are provisional is that new manufacturing establishments often do not require all their workforce until a number of years after their opening.
  4. (iv) In addition there is no statutory requirement for new manufacturing establishments to notify the Department of their existence, or of their origin: the figure particularly for most recent years, are therefore not complete

incentives and facilities which are available to investors willing to go to the assisted areas—which include Merseyside—make these areas particularly attractive.

The North-West Industrial Development Association—a grant-aided body-covers the Merseyside area and publicises the facilities available in the area through promotional literature and overseas events.