§ Mr. John Ellisasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he intends to take to stem the loss of employment opportunities in inner urban areas of Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ConcannonIt is the Government's intention to introduce an Order-in-Council which will make provision for schemes of financial assistance to encourage the retention of industrial and commercial employment, in selected inner urban areas of Northern Ireland, which might otherwise be lost as a result of urban redevelopment programmes. The order will also provide for assistance towards the creation of new sources of permanent employment in these areas, thus supplementing the wide range of incentives already available in Northern Ireland for industrial development.
There will be three schemes. The first will make available grants towards the cost of upgrading, to acceptable modern standards, business premises affected by redevelopment schemes; the second will provide for the payment of grants in respect of jobs that are retained in businesses which are required for planning or environmental reasons to vacate their existing premises and move to a new location; and the third will enable loans to be offered towards the construction of new business premises which will provide employment.
Because of the need for urgent action, I propose that an extra-statutory pilot scheme along these lines should be introduced very shortly to apply in certain designated areas of Belfast and Londonderry which are particularly affected by the process of urban renewal. The pilot 286W scheme will provide the opportunity to test the effectiveness of the measures before legislative proposals are finalised for submission to Parliament.
Notification of the details of the proposals has been made to the EEC Commission.