§ 22. Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his recent meeting with members of the proposed northern regional industrial executive.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe group which I and other Ministers met on 17 April represented a range of interests in the public and private sectors. It described its proposals for a new body to co-ordinate promotion and industrial development in the north of England. Welcoming this positive effort to overcome the region's industrial difficulties, we said that if all the key elements in the region—including the local authorities—think that this initiative is the best way forward, then the Government would be ready to recognise it.