HC Deb 05 July 1982 vol 27 cc5-6
5. Mr. Knox

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the value of the grants allocated to Wales from the European regional development fund in each of the past three years.

The Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Wyn Roberts)

Grant commitments for 1979, 1980 and 1981 were £21.7 million, £32.5 million and £24.8 million respectively.

Mr. Knox

Will my hon. Friend tell us whether funds come to Wales from other EEC sources? If so, what is the total amount of EEC help to Wales?

Mr. Roberts

My hon. Friend is right. There are, of course, grants from other sources. The total of grants and aid to Wales is now £968 million. Moreover, that is not all, as there are sources of aid which cannot be disaggregated regionally. If those were taken into account, the total might be well over £1,000 million.

Mr. Alec Jones

To balance those figures of grants and assistance from membership of the EEC, does the Minister agree with the Financial Secretary that between January 1973 and June 1981 membership of the EEC cost Britain a net sum of £3,166 million? Is he aware that that works out at £1 million per day? How much of that was contributed by the people of Wales, and what on earth have we received in return?

Mr. Roberts

I am surprised to hear the right hon. Gentleman denigrating our membership of the EEC, in view of the considerable benefits that Wales has received in inward investment and in jobs resulting from that.

Mr. Roy Hughes

Would it not be better for the Government to invest in Wales in the first instance than to pay huge sums to the Common Market, a tiny proportion of which is then clawed back and a part of that is then handed out to Wales as some kind of charity contribution?

Mr. Roberts

As the hon. Gentleman surely knows, the very good figures for grants and aid from the EEC do not compare in magnitude with the total of Government grants and aid to Wales. The hon. Gentleman should certainly know that, as his own constituency has greatly benefited. In fact, of course, it is the inward investment that comes to Wales as a result of our membership of the EEC that is so very important.

Mr. Wigley

Is the Minister aware of the report in the Western Mail, today of the social work undertaken by Mr. Peter Halstead of the Polytechnic of Wales? That report shows that the European regional fund has had only a minimal impact on areas such as Wales, and that 100 times more money is spent on items such as milk and wheat? Does the Minister agree that the Government should be pressing for many more funds to go to regional aid than in other directions?

Mr. Roberts

Increased assistance would, of course, be welcome, but it is always easy to say that the answer to all our problems is to throw more money at them. I am not sure that that is always the case. I believe that the best use should be made of available resources.

Sir Anthony Meyer

Is there not considerable confusion by the Opposition on this matter? Does my hon. Friend agree that in terms of budgetary contributions Wales does very well on the whole, in that it receives more than its fair share? Does my hon. Friend further agree that the real argument is for inward investment and a larger share of the home market?

Mr. Roberts

My hon. Friend is right. The European market consists of about 270 million people. The most telling fact is that the proportion of our exports to Europe has risen from 30 to 43 per cent. of the total.