§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Industry how many applications for information of an industrial or service development nature his Department has received for the Northern region and Durham county for each of the last 12 months; and how many of these his Department has referred to (a) the English Industrial Estates Commission, (b) the new town development corporations, (c) local authorities and (d) Durham county council.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe number of applications for information of an industrial or service development nature received for the North-East region and Durham county for each of the last 12 months is as follows:
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Number of offers made Value of offers made £'000 Number of new projects involved Estimated employment arising from new projects North-East Region (excluding Cumbria) January 1981 2 75 — — February 1981 4 155 3 220 March 1981 1 35 1 10 April 1981 9 2,251 3 80 May 1981 — — — — June 1981 6 605 4 164 July 1981 5 1,897 1 30 August 1981 4 2,214 — — September 1981 4 189 — — October 1981 9 1,383 2 212 November 1981 5 2,145 2 40 December 1981 3 481 1 36 Durham County January 1981 1 25 — — February 1981 1 15 1 40
Inquiries for Inquiries for premises selective financial assistance N.E. Region* N.E. Region of which for (including (including County County County Durham Durham) Durham) January 1981 83 44 21 February 1981 136 58 18 March 1981 134 62 12 April 1981 100 31 7 May 1981 85 32 11 June 1981 106 22 12 July 1981 85 23 11 August 1981 86 20 4 September 1981 87 25 6 October 1981 106 27 8 November 1981 101 23 7 December 1981 65 18 8 Total 1,174 385 125 * Details of inquiries about selective financial assistance relating to county Durham are not separately available. It is also not possible to provide information on referals but it is however standard practice to ensure that the inquirer is aware of all sources of aid and services including those which this question mentioned.
The small firms service in the North-East region received over 10,600 inquiries in 1981, many of which will have been concerned with information of an industrial or service development nature.
§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Industry (l) what has been the number of new firms and jobs created as a result of offers of financial assistance received under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 in (a) the Northern region, (b) Durham county and (c) Darlington and southwest Durham travel-to-work area for each month of the last 12 months;
(2) what has been the total number and value of offers of regional assistance made to companies in (a) the Northern region, (b) Durham county and (c) the Darlington and south-west Durham travel-to-work area for each of the last 12 months.
§ Mr. MacGregorAssistance has been offered under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 as follows:
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Number of offers made Value of offers made £'000 Number of new projects involved Estimated employment arising from new projects March 1981 — — — — April 1981 4 201 3 80 May 1981 — — — — June 1981 3 255 2 103 July 1981 — — — — August 1981 2 2,045 — — September 1981 2 45 — — October 1981 3 588 1 182 November 1981 1 15 1 19 December 1981 — — — —
Number of offers made Value of offers made £' 000 Numbers of new projects involved Estimated employment arising from new projects Darlington and South-West Durham travel-to- work area January 1981 1 25 — — February 1981 — — — — March 1981 — — — — April 1981 1 28 — — May 1981 — — — — June 1981 — — — — July 1981 — — — — August 1981 1 45 — — September 1981 1 10 — — October 1981 — — — — November 1981 — — — — December 1981 — — — —
§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the total area of industrial floor space allocated for industrial or service trade occupancy by the English Industrial Estates Corporation in each of the travel-to-work areas in (a) Durham county and (b) the Northern region for 1981.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe attached table sets out the factories let to all types of tenants by the English Industrial Estates Corporation in the year ended 31 December 1981 in each of the travel-to-work areas of Durham county and of the remainder of the North-East region.
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Factory Space Let by the English Industrial Estates Corporation in the North-East Region from 1 January 1981 to 31 December 1981 Travel-to-work area Units Square feet Durham county: Darlington/South- West Durham 2 11,330 North-West Durham 23 201,825 South-East Durham 3 5,229 Central Durham 2 5,500 TOTAL 30 223,884 Remainder of North-East region Alnwick 3 11,136 Berwick 3 4,692 Haltwhistle 2 19,604 Morpeth 6 35,226 South Tyne 23 100,970 North Tyne 8 72,480 Wearside 27 111,915 Hartlepool 6 94,602
Travel-to-work area Units Square feet Teesside 10 59,310 TOTAL 88 509,935 GRAND TOTAL NORTH-EAST REGION 118 733,819
§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Industry how many new starter manufacturing operations in Bishop Auckland and Durham county have been assisted under the provisions of the Industry Act.
§ Mr. MacGregorFifty-seven offers of assistance under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 have been made since April 1972 for new manufacturing projects in Durham county of which three relate to the Bishop Auckland employment office area.
I regret that the corresponding information relating to payment of regional development grant could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.