§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many advance factories are at present standing empty; which 20 advance factories have stood empty for the longest period; and how long these periods have been.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsAt 31 March 1982 the Welsh Development Agency, the Development Board for Rural Wales and Cwmbran Development Corporation had 356 advance factories which were vacant. I will write to the hon. Member about the other information he requires.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of jobs to be created in proportion to the area of factory space provided when letting advance factories in special development areas, development areas and intermediate areas, respectively.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsThe criteria for the selection of tenants for advance factories owned by the Welsh Development Agency and the Development Board for Rural Wales are laid down in guidelines issued by my Department. Copies of these guidelines are available in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many persons were employed in the advance factories owned by the Welsh Development Agency in December 1981 and March 1982;
(2) what is the total number of people currently employed in factories owned by the Welsh Development Agency in each county of Wales; and how many factories owned by the authority are situated in each county in Wales;
(3) how many advance factories have been completed by the Welsh Development Agency for each year since its inception; how many employees are employed in them; how many of these are at present empty; and how many jobs were estimated to have been created for each year.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsI have asked the Welsh Development Agency to provide the information to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Ray Powellasked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many persons were employed in Welsh Development Agency factories in Wales in May 1979 and at the present time;
(2) how many of the factories built by the Welsh Development Agency since May 1979 were already in the planning or processing stage before May 1979;
(3) how many of the factories to which he referred in his reply to the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Knox) on 19 150W April—Official Report, c. 2—are (a) vacant or (b) allocated; and how many Welsh Development Agency factory units have become vacant since May 1979.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsI have asked the Welsh Development Agency to provide the information to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Ray Powellasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many persons are already employed in the 186 Welsh Development Agency factories to which he referred—Official Report, 19 April, c. 3—and by how many this number falls short of the promised total.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsSome 750 are currently employed in Welsh Development Agency factories allocated during the year to March 1982. The balance of about 3,950 jobs is expected to arise over the next three years.
§ Mr. Ray Powellasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a further statement on the future strategy and operations of the Welsh Development Agency in view of the discussions to which he referred—Official Report, 19 April, c. 4.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsMy discussions with the agency on its future strategy and operations are continuing.