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Business of the House

My hon. Friend is right that if we want sustainable growth and secure, well-paid jobs we must rebalance the economy so that it is less dependent on public sector employment and more dependent on private sector employment. I welcome the way that my hon. Friend's constituency has diversified and is less dependent on public sector employment. He has just outlined the advantages of a relatively high employment rate and a relatively low unemployment rate. That is the transition that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is seeking to promote in other parts of the country, with assistance for those parts that are at the moment over-dependent on the public sector through the regional growth fund and with other measures.