asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the area of the various sites for trade purposes in Northumberland; why business firms have not yet contracted for their use; and how many more trade sites are now being prepared.

:The area of the various sites designated for industrial development in Northumberland is given in the booklet produced by the Northumberland County Council, a copy of which was sent to the hon. Member on the occasion of his previous Question on this subject on 5th June. A number of these sites are being used by business firms. The preparation of additional sites is a matter for the Northumberland County Council, but my right hon. Friend is satisfied that industrial development in Northumberland is not being held up through any shortage of suitable sites.

:Does the Minister realise that by this Question I am trying to give him an opportunity to advertise Northumberland? We hope that businessmen sometimes read HANSARD. We ask the Minister to do everything he can to advertise the position in Northumberland; that there are sites and any amount of people still out of work there, and we are anxious to have Northumberland developed.

:I quite agree with the hon. Member that there are plenty of sites available in Northumberland, and we hope they will be developed.

asked the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions he has applied for waivers under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; and what were the considerations involved.

:On two matters we have applied for waivers which were granted subject to conditions. One waiver enables us to impose or increase a most-favoured-nation rate of duty without imposing a duty on imports from Commonwealth countries in cases where the latter have no substantial trade. The second waiver enables us in certain cases to accord increased preferences to imports from our dependent overseas territories.

:As this procedure was introduced in order to enable this country and others to make special provision for industries which they felt were vital to their existence, could my hon. Friend say why he did not ask for a waiver under the G.A.T.T. to enable subsidies which are given in this country to boat owners to build their ships in British yards to continue as at present and ensure that these should not also apply to building in foreign yards?

:I do not think that my hon. Friend is expressing quite correctly the reason for the system of waivers. The system of waivers is introduced, among other things, to allow countries to reconcile their G.A.T.T. obligations with pre-existing obligations, as we have, for instance, in connection with the Commonwealth. The waivers which we have asked for and obtained were in both cases because of our Commonwealth obligations. The fishing vessels grant has no such similar circumstances, and I doubt whether we should have obtained a waiver if we had tried.

:Does the hon. Member realise that the machinery referred to in this Question provides him with a great opportunity to assist areas where the industry and employment are short? Will he say what practical steps he is taking to assist industry and employment in such areas, particularly in north-east Scotland?

:I do not think the hon. and learned Member appreciates that we have ourselves invoked the G.A.T.T. principles which he is asking us now to reject. We have invoked them successfully for the benefit of our export trade. Of course, the G.A.T.T. reduces all over the world barriers to our exports on which the industries of this country depend.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what complaints he has received that statements and advertisements issued by the producers of smokeless fuels about the quality of their products are misleading and inaccurate.

:None, Sir, over the past three years, so far as I can trace.

:Is my hon. Friend aware that a recent investigation by the Consumers' Advisory Council into the efficiency of smokeless fuels showed that the advertised claims within the specifications of producers such as the National Coal Board and others are grossly misleading and provide no guide at all to the consumer? Is he aware that it is claimed that the inadequacy of many smokeless fuels may jeopardise the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act? In view of this, will he consider introducing standards which will provide some sort of protection for the consumer?

:In reply to my hon. Friend's last question, we shall consider that, but this is primarily a matter for the British Standards Institution. In general, under the Merchandise Marks Act it is an offence to apply a false or misleading trade description. Where that is done prosecutions can be instigated by individuals or they can bring the matter to the Board of Trade and we can investigate it.

:Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the inquiry showed that in some cases up to a quarter of the material consisted of water and another 12 per cent. consisted of ash? Is he aware that in many areas the householder is having to pay so much for smokeless fuel that he is being forced either to use coal on the quiet and thus jeopardise the clean air scheme, or this winter to go without fires altogether?

:I shall take note of what the hon. Member says; but there is a British standard which specifies the moisture content concerned.

:Will my hon. Friend make perfectly clear that his answers to these questions relate only to solid smokeless fuels whereas the Question refers to smokeless fuels? Is it not a fact that there is no complaint whatever, voiced or otherwise, about gas, electricity or oil and that this complaint relates only to solid smokeless fuels?

:I took my hon. Friend's Question to relate to solid smokeless fuels.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements he made with Poland during the recent commercial agreement to facilitate British coal exports to Scandinavian countries.

:None, Sir.

:Is the Minister pleased with the progress of trade between Poland and Great Britain? Is it not desirable to use our influence with Poland to prevent the dumping of Polish coal in Scandinavian countries so that British coal may compete fairly there?

:The recent negotiations with Poland were concerned solely with Anglo-Polish trade.

:But there is a connection between our trade with Poland and our trade with Scandinavia and it is not just a matter of bilateral trade. Why will not the Minister use his influence in this way to improve our coal trade with Scandinavia?

:It is not Governmental policy to seek to share out third markets during discussions of mutual trade.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the length of advance notice given to his Department of the closures of collieries.

:From a few weeks to about a year, according to circumstances, from the time when it is definitely decided to close a pit.

:This is nothing like enough time to bring new industry to an area to replace employment lost by a closure. Will the hon. Gentleman look into the matter and see whether he can improve the notice he receives about this sort of thing?

:My right hon. Friend is in very close touch with the Minister of Power, but there is a difficulty in that very often a final decision to close a pit is not reached until a relatively late stage. On the other hand, most of the areas in which there are pits threatened with closure lie in development districts so that there is no very great problem and we are not greatly handicapped by this at the moment.

:Has there not been a longstanding arrangement for years between the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Fuel and Power, and now the Ministry of Power, that the Board of Trade had long notice of any closure? Is the hon. Gentleman telling us now that there may be cases where only a few weeks' notice is given to the Board of Trade?

:We receive as long notice as possible. What I say is that in the nature of the case a final decision to close a pit is not necessarily taken with long notice. It may not be possible to give long notice. Circumstances may change for a variety of reasons and the notice may be quite short.

:Are final decisions being taken almost on the spur of the moment, with no more than a few weeks' notice? If that is so, unemployment is inevitable.

:This can work both ways. In some cases it is decided to keep a colliery open although previously it had been thought that it would close. This happened, for example, in relation to Roslin colliery in Midlothian quite recently.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what reply he has sent to the letter from the clerk to the Chadderton Urban District Council written on behalf of the council calling attention to the serious decline in output and employment in the cotton textile industry.

:Representations in similar terms have been received from a large number of local authorities in the cotton belt. They have been advised that their representations have been taken into account during the Government's consideration of the issues involved.

:Since this representation was made after Government consideration of the issues involved, how can it have been taken into account at that stage? Is the hon. Gentleman aware that very grave and heavy burdens are being put upon local councils by the closure of mills, by the loss of rateable value and by the increased need for social services, while, in the meantime, we are subjected to a peripatetic procession of Ministers deploring the devastation caused by their own policy? Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that the difference of view taken by his right hon. Friend and the Minister of Labour and the Lord Privy Seal about the importance of Commonwealth trade is causing considerable apprehension and prospects of distress?

:I am not certain how that last question relates to the Question on the Order Paper.

:Can the hon. Gentleman explain where the Board of Trade obtains the figures which it constantly inflicts upon the House in regard to percentages of unemployment in the cotton belt? The figures quoted by the Board of Trade, repeated by the hon. Gentleman today, are very different from the official figures given to us by the Ministry of Labour in the constituencies. Are these figures being specially prepared or dealt with in some way so as to calm the fears of the House of Commons? Does not the hon. Gentleman know that in Nelson there is now 8 per cent. unemployment?

:I think that the difficulty arises because the figures normally given by the Ministry of Labour include temporarily stopped.

:No.

:Yes, they include temporarily stopped, whereas we deal with the figures of wholly unemployed, which are different. For example, I can tell the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Hale) that the percentage of wholly unemployed and temporarily stopped in his constituency was 2· 3 as against the 1· 5 per cent. which I gave earlier.

:Does not the hon. Gentleman realise that talking about temporarily stopped in that way conveys a false impression? Is it not true that the only difference between the permanently stopped and the temporarily stopped is the identity of the unemployed, and the percentage of temporarily stopped is as permanent as the percentage of the totally unemployed, so that cutting down the figures by leaving the temporarily stopped out of account is very deceptive?

:This is really a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour. We are in touch with him. The fact is that the temporarily stopped are the temporarily stopped on a particular day and the number may be very much affected by, for instance, building labour unable to build on that day.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many jobs will be provided as a result of the loan accorded to the Pressed Steel Company under the Local Employment Act; when these will become available; and where they will be.

:My right hon. Friend is authorised by the company to say that it expects to provide over 5,000 new jobs as a result of the development for which the loan has been made. Some of these jobs have already been provided and the rest should arise over the next two or three years. They will all be at Linwood, Paisley.

:That is very satisfactory as far as it goes, but can my hon. Friend explain why Parliament and the taxpayer have to derive their information about the nature of this transaction from an indiscreet statement in the chairman's annual report?

:The statement was not indiscreet so far as the company was concerned. It would have been indiscreet if we had made it. We deal with the company on a confidential basis, but it is perfectly open to the company to disclose what goes on. It would not be open to us.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has received the six-point plan sent to him by the Scottish Board for Industry last week recommending the building in Scotland of advance factories, more generous grants and other steps designed to alleviate unemployment in Scotland; and if he will state his reply to each of these recommendations.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what new proposals he has for providing employment in Scotland arising from the representations of the Scottish Board for Industry.

:I had a full and useful discussion with the Scottish Board for Industry after receiving their views on employment in Scotland. Some of their suggestions were referred to in the debate on 26th June, and there will be a further opportunity to discuss them in the debate on industry and employment in Scotland. In general, I told the Scottish Board that the Government's policy is to continue to use to the full the powers available under the Local Employment Act to help those parts of Scotland in which high unemployment exists or is threatened.

:Does not the Minister realise that that reply is as vague as his replies generally are and that it bears no relation to the actual problem? Does he further realise that this is a plan evolved by expert industrialists and others which deserves the fullest consideration, not, as in the case of granting loans to foreign shipyards, where the experts were consulted after the Government had stated their policy instead of before it? Will the Minister take a lesson from that and pay heed to the good advice which the experts are giving him by this plan?

:We always give heed to the advice of the advisory bodies which we ourselves set up, but we cannot follow it in every case. There were some seven separate suggestions put forward, and they are now being considered.

:Is not the hon. Gentleman aware that almost every association and body in Scotland concerned with economic and social development is now very definitely of the opinion that the Government should take some fresh initiative about Scotland, and that that was pinpointed in West Lothian? Does not the hon. Gentleman think that it is about time that the Government adopted some of the very many suggestions which have been made by these bodies, and which are continuing to be made all the time?

:We are aware that several areas consider that they should receive special treatment, but our view is that we should give the same treatment to all areas that are in need.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that the method of displaying goods for sale in many large stores constitutes a temptation to children and adults visiting them and is the cause of much pilfering; and if he will introduce legislation to ensure that such goods shall always be protected by glass screens.

:My right hon. Friend has seen Press reports on this subject. He does not think that this is a suitable matter for legislation by his Department.

:Is the Minister aware that it is not only our duty to punish criminals, but also our duty to remove the temptation that causes the crime? Is he also aware that in my division a large number of young people have been prosecuted for pilfering, that these young people are not inherently criminals or thieves but that the temptation is put before them and they pick these things up almost unknowingly? Is he aware that a lady wrote to the Press last week complaining that she had picked up something inadvertently and returned it when she discovered it after leaving the stores? [HON. MEMBERS:" Speech."] Will the Minister have a look at the problem of the temptation to young people in these big stores?

:This is not a new problem, and bookshops have displayed their goods openly for a very long time indeed, with a view to lowering the cost of distribution and of giving increased facilities for shopping. I do not think that we could interfere with this

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will cause an advance factory to he built in North Ayrshire.

:As I told the House on 26th June, the Government are considering their future policy as regards advance factories: the claims of North Ayrshire will be taken into account.

:Is my hon. Friend aware that his right hon. Friend recently informed me that it was not even worth while for an American firm, which he knows, to visit North Ayrshire, because there were no existing premises there. and, in view of the serious unemployment prevailing in the area, will he not take steps to provide such premises at once?

:With regard to the first part of my hon. and gallant Friend's question, my information is that the firm was not sure enough of being able to get the labour it needed in the area, after taking into account the prospective needs of other undertakings already established or under construction in the area. We are considering the policy as regards advance factories.

:But is not my hon. Friend aware of the serious unemployment there, and also of the availability of a pool of skilled and semi-skilled labour in the area, because, if he is not. he ought to be?

:I am also aware that there are more jobs in prospect than there are unemployed in the area. although I should admit that the jobs in prospect include overspill from Glasgow.

:Is not the hon. Gentleman aware that in his own constituency in Dumfriesshire the workers in a factory are working on a £ 600,000 trade contract with the Soviet Union? Is it not possible to get these factories extended, so that they can also help and be assisted by similar trade with the Soviet Union?

:With regard to the first part of the hon. Gentleman's Question, I am aware of that, but I am not quite certain how it affects an advance factory in North Ayrshire.

asked the President of the Board of Trade, in view of the fact that Irish yarn is being sold in this country at 1s. 8d. per lb. less than its price in Eire, in contravention of the antidumping Acts, what action he proposes to take to see that this practice ceases.

:The British Spinners' and Doublers' Association, in collaboration with the Cotton Board, has recently made representations to the Board of Trade about the import of cotton yarn from the Irish Republic at allegedly dumped prices. My right hon. Friend is considering these representations urgently.

:Will the Minister see that these representations are made urgently, as the textile industry is in a parlous state, because of these backdoor methods? Even if the amount may be only small, even small amounts are vital to the future of Lancashire's industry.

:I can certainly give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that we are considering this very urgently.

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the contract for the sale of the Government-owned factory formerly occupied by Metropolitan Vickers in Yarm Lane, Stockton, has yet been completed; and when he anticipates that production at the factory will be resumed.

:We are negotiating for the sale of this factory to I.C.I., Ltd., but it will be for the company itself to issue any further information about its production plans when it is ready to do so.

:Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware of the very real concern felt locally about the long delay in selling the factory and completing the contract, and can he give an assurance that when the factory is open it will provide as many jobs as it did at the beginning of 1960, when there were over 600 people employed there?

:I am not certain of that, but I can say that it will ultimately provide more jobs than were provided by the previous occupants.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what increase in United Kingdom export trade, what diminution of United Kingdom imports, and what measure of overall improvement in United Kingdom balance of payments occurred in the period 25th July, 1961, to 24th June, 1962, namely, the first 11 months of special terms and provisions of Government economic, financial and fiscal policy; and whether he will now make a statement as to United Kingdom exports prospects.

:I am circulating tables in the OFFICIAL REPORT giving the latest published figures. Broadly, they show that there was little change in exports between the first and second halves of 1961 but that since the beginning of this year they have been rising; that imports declined between the two halves of 1961 but there has been some increase this year; and that there has been a marked improvement in the balance of payments since the middle of 1961. Provided world trading conditions do not deteriorate, my right hon. Friend expects exports to go on rising in the rest of this year.

:Having regard to the fact that exports from the United Kingdom to the Common Market countries have increased in the last year by approximately 20 per cent., whereas the overall increase in United Kingdom exports is only marginal— some 3 or 4 per cent.— can my hon. Friend say where British exports have suffered their major decline and if that decline was manifest in the Commonwealth countries?

During the last half of last year the fairly steep rise in our exports to Europe, the Far East and other parts of the world tended to be offset, to some extent, by falls in our exports to parts of the Commonwealth and the primary producing countries, but since the beginning of this year many of the Commonwealth countries have been able to buy more from us. At the moment, the generally rising trend is offset principally in Canada and in India, where there have been falls in our exports, and, of course, present conditions in the United States must make us pause before predicting rising exports in that market at the moment.

Can my right hon. Friend say how much greater the rise in our exports to the Commonwealth would have been had we been spending the last two or three years in concentration on trying to get some financial policy for the Commonwealth, rather than messing about in Europe?

I think my hon. Friend fails to estimate or to value fully the really great efforts of our industries as a whole to export to the major trading markets of the world simultaneously. Very great efforts have been put into our trade with Europe and the Commonwealth, as well as into other markets.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give consideration to reclassifying, for the purpose of the Hire Purchase Regulations, the moped as a cycle.

:The concessions made last month represent the limit to which my right hon. Friend is prepared to go at present, but he will watch the situation closely.

:In view of the fact that a moped is recognised as being an auxiliary bicycle, will not my hon. Friend have another look at this question and perhaps consult the industry and try to straighten out this anomaly?

:When we looked at this, we decided that it was rather difficult to classify it as a self-propelled vehicle, but if the industry would like to see me at the Board of Trade, I shall be very pleased to see its representatives.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on his visit to Poland.

:My right hon. Friend visited Poland for a week from 11th June at the invitation of the Polish Government. During his visit he reviewed Anglo-Polish trade with Polish Ministers. He visited the Poznan Fair on 15th June, which was British Day, and inspected the stands of the fifty-one British exhibitors. He also saw something of modern Polish industrial plants.

:Could the hon. Gentleman possibly have told us less about this visit? Is he not aware that it was in order to sign a commercial agreement? Can he tell us something about the terms of that agreement? Was it a favourable one? Is it the case that we can welcome it because of the terms on which exports and imports between the two countries have been agreed upon? Can favourable trade agreements of this nature continue to be made if we enter the Common Market?

:My right hon. Friend was present when the agreed minute was signed which allowed for increased trade both ways between our two countries. My right hon. Friend was asked by Polish Ministers what the effect on our trade might be if we joined the Common Market. He was able to assure them that in the view of Her Majesty's Government our trade with all countries should generally tend to increase.

:Will my hon. Friend give an assurance that among the items talked about in these conversations was not the importation of increased quantities of Polish eggs?

:The Polish industry has diversified itself a good deal over the past few years and I think that we can hope to trade on the basis of an increasing proportion of Polish industrial goods.

:As two of the major items were bacon and butter, can the hon. Gentleman assure us that we would be able still to import such large quantities of these commodities as are stated in the agreement if Denmark joined the Common Market with us?

:No. The hon. Gentleman will realise that it is impossible to forecast exact items and quantities any distance ahead.

asked the President of the Board of Trade why the project in Sunderland, for which assistance had been approved in June, 1961, but which was in abeyance in March, 1962, is now still under consideration.

:Because the company concerned substantially altered its plans.

:The hon. Gentleman will realise that this is disappointing to us. Can he assure the House that every step will be taken to expedite the consideration of this and ensure that the project is started?

:Yes. It is a matter for the company in the first place to formulate its plans.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how much land administered by the Industrial Estates Management Corporation in Sunderland is available for further factory development.

:The Board of Trade is holding between three and four acres of Government-owned industrial land against development by existing tenants in Sunderland.

:Does the hon. Gentleman realise that one of the biggest handicaps we have in Sunderland is a shortage of attractive industrial estates? Will he therefore look at this with a view to reconsidering his decision not to put us on the list of development districts?

:I do not think that this is a factor involved in our decision not to have Sunderland on the development district list.

:Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there is a very real difficulty in providing attractive industrial estates without Government assistance?

:No. Our experience is that many boroughs have been able to provide adequate industrial estates and are doing so all the time.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many staff are employed by his Department in the questioning of British travellers returning from Europe, details of which have been sent to him; what is the reason for their employment in this way; and what is the annual cost involved.

:A voluntary sample survey of all passengers travelling to and from the United Kingdom has been introduced to improve the estimates of tourist receipts and expenditure to our international balance of payments, and to provide estimates of the total number of migrants by sea and air. A part-time staff of about a hundred interviewers is currently employed. The total cost of the survey is estimated at £ 80,000 a year.

:Is my hon. Friend aware that this information is staggering? Why was not Parliament informed about this before? When shall we he able to have a little money for something which would be more worth while? I could spend that £ 80,000 very easily on doing something very much more worth while.

:Perhaps my hon. Friend does not appreciate that tourism is a very large getter and spender in our international accounts.

:Yes, I do. I have masses of tourists.

:Most countries want to inform themselves more about the actual cost and results of tourism, and many of them do it by much more expensive and much less effective ways than the sample interview. For all these purposes, and particularly so that we can learn more about the balancing item in our international accounts, this seems a very effective and economic way of vetting the information.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what legislative or other proposals he has for ensuring control of the disposal of empty factories.

:My right hon. Friend has no powers to control the disposal of privately-owned factories. However, a register of available empty factories in development districts is kept at Board of Trade Headquarters and in the Board's Regional Offices, and this is shown to industrialists looking for industrial premises.

:Without such provisions. how does the Board of Trade propose to convince Parliament and the people of Scotland and elsewhere that it is serious in its intentions about the location of industry? Does it propose to continue the present practice that when factories are vacated in London and in the Midlands they are immediately filled up again, instead of the Board of Trade having control of the empty factories and in that way hoping to channel industry to places such as Scotland and the north-east of England?

:I am not certain why the hon. Gentleman wants the Board of Trade to have control. If it is in order to change the use, that would involve a lower value for the factory and would not be an encouragement to industries to move to development districts.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many Industrial Development Certificates have been granted since the passing of the Local Employment Act in areas of full employment; and how many new jobs have been created.

:We have no definition of areas of full employment, but from the passing of the Local Employment Act industrial development certificates issued in the Midlands and the London and South Eastern areas, excluding development districts, totalled 3,167, with an estimated employment of about 98,100.

:Does not this show that the present methods are inadequate to enable the Government to carry out their declared policy of bringing about a more adequate distribution of industry to areas of high unemployment? Will the hon. Gentleman ensure that measures such as that suggested by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mr. Hannan) and others are put into effect so that we have much more than the weapon of mere industrial development certificates but other effective weapons by which distribution of industry can be adequately carried out in the areas which need industry?

:I endeavoured to explain in the debate on the 26th of last month how this worked. I think that the main answer to the hon. Gentleman is that the proportion of extra employment provided from industrial development certificates in relation to the insured employees in development districts is 2· 1 per cent. In the areas I have mentioned— the Midlands, London and the South East— the proportion is 0· 8 per cent. This means that there are twice as many jobs coming from I.D.C.s in relation to employment in the development districts as elsewhere.

:Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that many more jobs are being provided in areas of high employment than are being provided in this way in development districts?

:To some extent that is true with empty factories, and so forth, but it is also true in the development districts and other parts of the country.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what legislative or other proposals he has for controlling the growth of new office employment to ensure its distribution to areas of high unemployment.

:I would refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on this in the course of the debate on distribution of industry on 26th June.

:Is not this just one of the examples that we have in mind where thousands of jobs are being created in areas of high employment such as London and the Midlands? Is it not time that steps were taken to control office building as well as factory building? Office work is surely as much an industry as factory work. If it is proper to control the location of factories, why is it not proper to control the location of offices?

:It is very difficult to debate this matter by way of Question and Answer. We had an opportunity of debating it a few days ago.

:Will the hon. Gentleman at least undertake to examine mare seriously the practical suggestions made in last week's debate and not merely give routine answers?

:I said in last week's debate that we were examining the whole question. I cannot go further than that.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of the insured population of Scotland is in the development districts.

:Of the estimated number of insured employees in Scotland at the end of May, 1961, 63· 8 per cent. are in the areas now listed as development districts. Excluding districts on the stop list the percentage is 60· 5.

:Is not that a very high percentage? Does not it emphasise even to the Minister the very serious nature of Scotland's unemployment situation? Does he not think that he is doing insufficient, even through the Local Employment Act, to deal with this problem? Will he take other initiatives to meet Scotland's demand for jobs?

:We are giving the full benefits of the Local Employment Act to all of this 60 per cent. in Scotland. We do not think that it would be right to give the same benefits to the other 40 per cent.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what has been the nett percentage increase in employment in Scotland arising from the operation of the Local Employment Act.

:The Local Employment Act is designed to provide additional employment for those living in areas of high unemployment. It is not possible to relate the increase in employment in the areas to changes in total employment in Scotland as a whole. About 29,000 jobs are estimated to have been provided from projects for which assistance has been offered under the Act.

:A considerable number of jobs have gone out of existence. In view of the figures which the Minister has just given in answer to the Question of my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Govan (Mr. Rankin), will he have another look at the working of the Local Employment Act to see whether it is doing the job which it should be doing in these areas?

:We are looking at and administering this Act from day to day. We believe that, in relation to the amount of industry on the move, Scotland is getting a good share of what is available.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made in the last two months in encouraging new industrial enterprises to come to Scotland.

:In the last two months approval has been given for 31 projects in Scotland, estimated to give rise to some 3,300 jobs, almost all of them in development districts. In addition, some 16 firms new to Scotland have been shown possible sites, but it is too early to say whether any of these will set up factories in Scotland.

:Is the hon. Gentleman aware that many of the newer industries which are being established employ very few people compared with many of the old industries going out of existence? Will he do something to accelerate the increase in industry in Scotland in view of the fact that the rate of the loss of jobs in Scotland is about one-and-a-half times as fast as the creation of new jobs? The position in Scotland is getting worse instead of better.

:The balance between the loss of jobs and the provision of new jobs varies from time to time. There have been periods, not very long ago, when the number of new jobs being provided was greater than the number of jobs being lost.

:Can the Minister indicate what progress has been made in the last few months in securing permission to build an advance factory at the Kilwinning Industrial Estate, in North Ayrshire, where unemployment is over 5 per cent.? This estate has had only one factory since 1948. Site preparation and servicing cost over £ 100,000.

:I note what the hon. Gentleman says.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what consultations have taken place between his Department and the National Coal Board on the proposed closure of the Cowdenbeath Central Workshops.

:My right hon. Friend is informed that the National Coal Board has no immediate plans for the closure of its central workshops at Cowdenbeath. The Cowdenbeath Town Council has suggested that the workshops might be put to some alternative use, and the Board of Trade is pursuing that suggestion in co-operation with the National Coal Board.

:Since these workshops constitute not an uneconomic colliery but a highly efficient productive unit and make up the last remaining industry of any importance in Cowdenbeath employing nearly 400 people, will the hon. Gentleman watch this matter very closely?

:Yes, Sir.

:Can the hon. Gentleman confirm or deny the long-term intention of the National Coal Board to close these workshops? Is not this the inevitable trend which everyone in the area reoognises? Since Cowdenbeath is in the centre of a development district under the Local Employment Act, will the hon. Gentleman have further consultations with the National Coal Board to see whether these workshops can be used as central workshops for the whole mining community in Scotland?

:I note the hon. Gentleman's suggestion, which is not along the lines of what we were discussing with the National Coal Board.