asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will give the number of applications for grants in the North-East under the Local Employment Act, 1960; and how many were agreed to;

(2) if he will give the number of applications for grants in the various regions in the country under the Local Employment Act, 1960; and how many were agreed to.

Seventy applications have been received for financial assistance under Sections 3 and 4 of the Local Employment Act for projects in the Board of Trade's northern region. Twenty-four offers have been made and 19 cases are under consideration. The corresponding figures for Great Britain as a whole are 571, 221 and 86 respectively.

I am circulating the figures for Scotland, Wales and the separate regions in England in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware of the growing opinion in the North-East that the Local Employment Act is a form of cheat legislation, proof of which lies in the fact that far too many applications have been turned down, and that far too many people are puzzled at some of the decisions of the Board of Trade Advisory Committee? Is the hon. Gentleman also aware that I have a case in my constituency where a grant has been turned down and have evidence of another one where nearly two years ago an application was made for a grant for a factory and where, on the advice of the Board of Trade, the people concerned formed themselves into a new company to carry out the project, and that, after doing all this and submitting all the details, including forward estimates for three years, there is no grant available at the end? Surely something else could be done to carry out the spirit of the Act?

It is a fact that so far more applications have been turned down than accepted, but I do not think that this could be described as cheap legislation. [HON. MEMBERS: "Cheat."] I thought that the hon. Gentleman said "cheap". In any case, whether it be cheap or cheat, even in the northern region the total assistance offered to these 24 successful applicants amounts to more than £½ million.

Following is the information: