asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give an assurance that there is no change in Government policy towards the firms which are establishing themselves at Bideford and Appledore with the help of the Local Employment Act.

Assistance under the Local Employment Acts will continue to be available to firms establishing themselves at Bideford and Appledore as long as these remain in a development district.

I thank the President of the Board of Trade for that assurance, which will bring great satisfaction to the people of North Devon. Will the right hon. Gentleman take into account the fact that without adequate rail and road services these industries in North Devon may be starved? Will he urge his right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport to keep open the line from Bideford to Exeter, so that industries may be encouraged to go there? Will he also take into account the fact that if we subsidise a local employment area it is as well to subsidise the railways also?

That is a point that the party opposite might have thought of before, but my right hon. Friend is well aware of it.

Is the President of the Board of Trade aware that, thanks to the activities of the local authority in the Bideford employment exchange area and the assistance given by the Government, unemployment in this district has fallen recently by no less than two-thirds, and does the right hon. Gentleman expect this progress to be maintained in a situation in which the Government have deliberately created disinflation?

I think that this is an area which has always had an unemployment problem. That problem is not serious at the moment, but it is certainly one we must watch carefully.