Mr Reginald Eyre: I accept the importance of jobs and profitability. If the hon. Lady will permit me, I shall try to reply to what she said about those two major issues later. A list of job creation effects was discussed on Second Reading. I invite the hon. Lady to read those speeches. Perhaps I might ask her to read mine—
Mr Reginald Eyre: —because I said that I believe that the event will contribute to job creation in Birmingham. The hon. Lady rightly said that we do not want to turn all our attention to service industries, but that we want a revival of manufacturing. I share her view. There is no doubt that the future of manufacturing is enormously important to Birmingham. I remind her, however, that the city's...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I accept your guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I believe that I shall be able to show a positive response to the main thrust of the hon. Lady's argument. I look forward to considering the amendments. The hon. Lady will also find that stage of the debate helpful. The Bill was amended in Committee to take account of observations by Government Departments, statutory undertakers, the county council...
Mr Reginald Eyre: The hon. Gentleman makes a helpful point, which I believe to be accurate. It would be much in the interests of our business if we could proceed soon to deal with the new clause in the name of the hon. Member for Ladywood, and the amendments tabled by the hon. Members for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Davis) and for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker). I am anxious to be able to show a positive...
Mr Reginald Eyre: Is my right hon. Friend aware that, despite the carping tone of the right hon. and learned Member for Monklands, East (Mr. Smith), he is to be congratulated on his statement, which will be warmly welcomed in the west midlands and will have a beneficial effect in raising morale in that area among all those engaged in the motor industry? Can my right hon. Friend confirm that British Leyland...
Mr Reginald Eyre: rose in his place and claimed to move, That the Question be now put.
Mr Reginald Eyre: I know that the hon. Gentleman does not want to be unfair. It is true that that Bill included a provision for motor racing. However, that formed no part of the Second Reading debate. The major parts of the Bill were concerned with what the hon. Gentleman described as the advancement of municipal trading. What is more, it was to promote municipal trading at the expense of ratepaying private...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I am grateful to you, Mr. Speaker, for what you have just said about the instructions. It is well known that the great increase in oil prices, the world trade recession and the new industrial revolution have had a severe effect upon the economy of Birmingham and the west midlands. The decline of metal-based manufacturing compels us...
Mr Reginald Eyre: Yes. I shall be coming to the cost in a few moments. I assure my hon. Friend that it was as a result of the feasibility study that accurate costing items could be calculated, and that was helpful to the city in the presentation of its case. In some areas the highway will need to be slightly widened to meet the minimum width requirements. When carried out, they will improve existing traffic...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I am glad to be able to tell my hon. Friend that the police authority has, of course, been consulted throughout the preparatory negotiations, and the police have approved the safety aspects of all the measures that I have mentioned. I think my hon. Friend will be very pleased to hear that. The arrangements are being formalised in an agreed code of practice covering the emergency services for...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising those points because I propose, in a few moments, to come to the city council's estimates in those respects. I think that I shall be able to show that a valuable flow of business and of job opportunities will be created by this endeavour. The foundations will be constructed as a once-and-for-all exercise. Where possible, they will be constructed...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I welcome the way in which my hon. Friend put that question. Natives of the city of Birmingham undoubtedly feel that other cities seek to emulate it. Birmingham has a unique road formation. It has been carefully chosen and avoids interruption with the main city centre traffic and difficulty with the bus services. It is just away from the city centre, and therefore has the least possible...
Mr Reginald Eyre: I am told that there is a technical distinction between certain forms of housing repair expenditure which is revenue and certain forms of housing expenditure which is treated on a capital basis. I realise that the hon. Gentleman specialises in the subject, and may have more particular knowledge of where the line is drawn between those two forms of expenditure on housing provision than I have....
Mr Reginald Eyre: I appreciate my hon. Friend's point, but the figure of about £8 million that he quotes would be enormously attractive to the city of Birmingham on the revenue side. I assure my hon. Friend that we provide services at a much better figure than Monaco. Only five petitions have been deposited in respect of the Bill, and in none of them is any objection raised in principle to the Bill....
Mr Reginald Eyre: I accept that point. The amendment would refer to "occupiers or owners". In connection with instruction 8, all the vantage points around the proposed circuit are municipally owned properties. The council will let the tenants invite such guests as they wish, but full regard must be paid to the structural suitability and stability of the dwellings—for example, potential overloading of...
Mr Reginald Eyre: That is a fair point. My view is that the "Passport to Leisure" scheme provides a framework and an administrative arrangement that demonstrates that it is possible to operate schemes of such kind. There has been definite reference to making some benefits available to all citizens, including the ratepayers. I assume that the hon. Gentleman is referring to the families of ratepayers, too. They...
Mr Reginald Eyre: The hon. Gentleman mentions prices at the upper end of the likely spectrum — the possible prices for seats in glossy and convenient situations in the stands. There is a range of estimates of the revenue that might be gained through the sale of tickets for a whole day's substantial and attractive entertainment, including items of entertainment suitable for families. However, the hon....
Mr Reginald Eyre: Is the Minister aware of the severe congestion affecting the M6 motorway where it passes through the Birmingham and west midlands conurbation? Is she further aware of the urgent need for an orbital route to relieve this overburdened stretch of motorway, and can she give encouraging news of action in that respect?
Mr Reginald Eyre: How many applications for grants have been received in the west midlands area, including Birmingham, since the proposals incorporated in the scheme were first announced?
Mr Reginald Eyre: asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of keeping and updating the land registers of public vacant land; how many civil servants, part or full-time, are employed in maintaining the land registers; and what is the estimated cost on his Vote for so doing.
