asked the Secretary of State for War what steps he is taking to dispose of the site of the former Royal Ordnance factory at Swynnerton; and if he will ensure that its disposal will contribute to the expansion and diversification of industry and employment in North Staffordshire.

The disposal of the site is under consideration with the local planning authority. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government made clear in his statement to the House on the 14th January, 1964, major development of the kind that would depend on the issue of industrial development certificates, or the provision on a substantial scale of new housing and community services, would not be desirable.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the local Press has named this site "The fantasy of seven years", because for seven years 700 acres in Swynnerton in mid-Staffordshire have lain idle because of the length of the bureaucratic discussions about Birmingham overspill? Is he aware that a decision is urgent? Quite apart from the rigmarole from the Ministry of Housing which he has just read out, can he now say that he will come to a decision with the local planning authority to provide some site for new industry and housing development for the benefit of the people of mid-Staffordshire?

We are consulting the planning authority which is now studying possible future uses of the site. Questions of industry or housing are not a matter for the War Department.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that people have been studying the future use of this site for seven years in the Ministry of Housing, the local planning authority and the Board of Trade—everyone except the hon. Gentleman's own Department? Will he consult the students who have had a seven-year period for study and ask them now kindly to take a decision on the use of this site?

Our job is merely to get rid of the site.