Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
devoted attention to setting up new industries in remote interior regions, at the
expense of central development, for populist and geopolitical reasons. In Britain,
it is possible to claim that the old industrial regions were a diversion which
caused a decline in international economic standing in the whole period from
1945 to 1980.
Another arm of indirect policy was through the welfare services,
unemployment and pensions benefits, health, education and housing. Since in the
poor regions there were high levels of unemployment, low levels of home
ownership, and weaker educational provision, these regions would benefit from
state welfare. Robinson has shown convincingly that the middle classes made
most use, per capita, of educational facilities and the National Health Service in
the 1970s (Le Grand 1982); but without national welfare, the provision of
housing, education and other welfare would have been slight in the poorer
regions, and disparities between regions might have been still higher.
Comprehensive economic planning regions
It is worth mentioning a different kind of regional definition and development
body. From 1976, Scottish and Welsh Development Agencies were set up. The
differences from the usual regional aid programmes were in the autonomy of
these bodies to administer their grants from central government, not earmarked
for speciflc projects or controlled from London, so that in each case, a more
varied and complex system of aid came into being. These agencies have survived
to the present day and will be the subject of later comment.
Another form of regionalization for comprehensive economic planning was
undertaken from 1964. In that year, a Department of Economic Planning was
established, and prepared a National Plan to be administered through a whole set
of strategic plans for each of 11 major regions. These were to be agreed by
composite bodies representing central government, local government councils,
and a regional planning council. However, the National Plan was itself
abandoned after two years, and the Department of Economic Planning from
1969. Strategic plans were written for several regions, but they lost their impetus
with the loss of a national framework (Damesick 1987). After the election of the
Conservative government from 1979, there was a winding down of the formal
regional policy, leaving the Development Areas in place but with smaller
attractions on offer. There are traditional credits and tax reductions available, but
on a limited scale and most strongly in the Enterprise Zones set up in the 1980s.
In addition, indirect policy through the operation of the nationalized industries is
being gradually removed through privatization of the relevant industries.
A critique
The whole period up to about 1980 may be regarded as one of regional policy
based loosely on a welfare analysis; this policy addressed the levels
