§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in the Official Report the number of persons employed in Welsh Development Agency factories for each year since 1976.
§ Mr. Nicholas Edwards[pursuant to his reply, 31 January 1984, c. 205–6]: Information on the number of people employed in Welsh Development Agency factories before 1977 is not available. The numbers employed in factories on Welsh Development Agency estates for each year since then are as follows:
Date Number employed in factories on Welsh Development Agency estates June 1977 62,100 June 1978 58,800 June 1979 58,800 June 1980 54,200 June 1981 48,300 June 1982 44,700 June 1983 43,800 September 1983 (latest date for which figures are available) 44,800 The agency, and its predecessors, the Welsh Industrial Estates Corporation, has sold a number of factories outside its major estates and it is thought that employment in them may amount to several thousand, though no account of the numbers involved is kept by the agency. The number of new factory allocations and known company expansion plans have been running at a high level and it is anticipated that these may provide as many as 9,000 job opportunities over the next three years.