§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will take action to assist the man-made fibre industry in view of the loss of jobs in the industry, including over 3,500 textile jobs in North-East Wales since 1972.
§ Mr. David MitchellThere has been considerable excess capacity in man-made production, not only in the United Kingdom, and contraction has been inevitable as demand failed to develop as expected by the industry. Financial assistance from the Government to maintain unwanted capacity would provide no solution to the industry's problems.
However, the Government have recognised the particular problems of the Wrexham and Shotton travel-to-work areas, both of which are special development areas and attract the maximum regional aids.