Mr David Reed: asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many firms to date have notified him of decisions to withdraw or substantially to alter investment projects in the Northern Region following the change in investment incentives; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Reed: Notwithstanding that figure, will the hon. Gentleman accept that there is growing concern in the Northern Re- gion and other development areas about the low level of new investment projects? Will he therefore consider introducing an emergency programme of investment grants to do something positive to tackle unemployment this winter? Is the Minister aware that if these were somehow linked with...
Mr David Reed: In seeking this debate on the industrial and commercial future of Newton Ayclifle New Town, my sole intention is to draw attention to certain problems in the town. I do not intend to imply any criticism of any organisations which have the varying degrees of responsibility for different problems. It is the number of those agencies which makes it difficult to apportion blame. This multiplicity...
Mr David Reed: asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he is satisfied with the rate at which new industry is being attracted to Newton Aycliffe; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Reed: Is the hon. Gentleman aware that employment on the estate has been static for almost two years? As the entire social and amenity development of Newton Aycliffe depends on future progress on the industrial estate, will not the hon. Gentleman agree that further stimulus is needed, since Newton Aycliffe is the only Northern Region new town which has not special development area status?
Mr David Reed: I wish that I had been the Labour Member who first used the phrase "window dressing". In fact, I must attribute it to my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Bagier). Yesterday afternoon, this House was presented with the most blatant piece of economic window dressing that I have ever experienced. However, the performance of the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday has been...
Mr David Reed: The have rising unemployment, we have no new industry applying to come into the region, and the Government alone are responsible. We are not discussing the immediate situation. We are concerned with the next year or two, and it must be borne in mind that projects applying now for industrial development certificates will provide the jobs in a year or two when we need them. Not only are Durham...
Mr David Reed: Apparently the right hon. Gentleman does not agree. However, these are his own Department's figures. On a normal reckoning, about 100 jobs are involved in every 25,000 sq. ft. of factory space. In this case, 50,000 jobs were involved in projects which the Government decided deliberately to put outside their control. We cannot claim that all of them might have come to the development areas if...
Mr David Reed: In regard to my statistics, before I came to this House, I had to take an entirely non-political rôle. I am thankful that I do not have to do so any more. The thing about Lord Hailsham's visit was not the report he produced but the fact that the Government, before sending him to the region, had ignored the problem. That was my point. On industrial development certificates, if the hon....
Mr David Reed: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, since there are 137 civil servants on Teesside who are now extremely worried about their future due to the impending closure of the Investment Grants Office, this matter directly concerns him? Will he undertake to approach and make representations to his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on their behalf?
Mr David Reed: It is a matter of great regret to me personally that for only the second time that I rise to speak in this Chamber it should be on this subject. I say that because should the Orders that we are discussing be accepted without Amendment, as the Home Secretary is suggesting, my constituency would be eliminated. It would be wiped off the map. I refer to the constituency of Sedgefield, in County...
Mr David Reed: I am delighted that I have succeeded in catching the eye of the Chair so that I can make my maiden speech in this debate, because it was on the subject of the economy, particularly the policies put forward by right hon. Members opposite for handling the economy, that my constituents voted. The fact that they returned me with a majority of close on 13,000 shows what they think about those...
