Editing Harold Wilson (section)

====Regional development====
Encouragement of regional development was given increased attention under the First Wilson Government, to narrow economic disparities between the various regions. A policy was introduced in 1965 whereby any new government organisation should be established outside London and in 1967 the government decided to give preference to development areas. A few government departments were also moved out of London, with the [[Royal Mint]] moved to [[South Wales]], the Giro and Inland Revenue to [[Bootle]], and the Motor Tax Office to [[Swansea]].<ref name="beckerman">''The Labour government's Economic record: 1964–1970'', edited by Wilfred Beckerman.</ref> A new Special Development Status was also introduced in 1967 to provide even higher levels of assistance.<ref name="ponting"/> In 1966, five development areas (covering half the population in the UK) were established, while subsidies were provided for employers recruiting new employees in the Development Areas.<ref name="Thorpe64702001"/> A Highlands and Islands Development Board was also set up to "re-invigorate" the north of Scotland.<ref name="Labour 1968"/>

The Industrial Development Act 1966 changed the name of Development Districts (parts of the country with higher levels of [[Unemployment in the United Kingdom|unemployment]] than the national average and which governments sought to encourage greater investment in) to Development Areas and increased the percentage of the workforce covered by development schemes from 15% to 20%, which mainly affected rural areas in Scotland and Wales. Tax allowances were replaced by grants to extend coverage to include firms which were not making a profit, and in 1967 a Regional Employment Premium was introduced. Whereas the existing schemes tended to favour capital-intensive projects, this aimed for the first time at increasing employment in depressed areas. Set at 30s per employee per week and guaranteed for seven years, the Regional Employment Premium subsidised all [[Manufacturing in the United Kingdom|manufacturing industry]] (though not services) in Development Areas, amounting to an average subsidy of 7% of labour costs.<ref name="ponting"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Tomlinson |first=Jim |title=The Labour Governments 1964–1970, Volume 3, Economic Policy |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |year=2004 |page=86}}</ref>

Regional unemployment differentials were narrowed, and spending on regional infrastructure was significantly increased. Between 1965–66 and 1969–70, yearly expenditure on new construction (including power stations, roads, schools, hospitals and housing) rose by 41% in the United Kingdom as a whole. Subsidies were also provided for various industries (such as [[shipbuilding]] in [[Clydeside]]), which helped to prevent many job losses. It is estimated that, between 1964 and 1970, 45,000 government jobs were created outside London, 21,000 of which were located in the Development Areas.<ref name="beckerman"/> The Local Employment Act, passed in March 1970, embodied the government's proposals for assistance to 54 "intermediate" employment exchange areas not classified as full "development" areas.<ref name="Britannica1971">''Britannica Book of the Year 1971'', Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., William Benton (Publisher).</ref>

Funds allocated to regional assistance more than doubled, from £40&nbsp;million in 1964/65 to £82&nbsp;million in 1969/70, and from 1964 to 1970, the number of factories completed was 50% higher than from 1960 to 1964, which helped to reduce unemployment in development areas. In 1970, the unemployment rate in development areas was 1.67 times the national average, compared to 2.21 times in 1964. Although national rates of unemployment were higher in 1970 than in the early 1960s, unemployment rates in the development areas were lower and had not increased for three years.<ref name="ponting"/> Altogether, the impact of the first Wilson government's regional development policies was such that, according to one historian, the period 1963 to 1970 represented "the most prolonged, most intensive, and most successful attack ever launched on regional problems in Britain."<ref name="Thorpe64702001"/>