13. Mr. Tom Ellisasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he is now in a position to announce new policy guidelines for the Welsh Development Agency.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsI met the board of the Welsh Development Agency on 1 March to discuss future policies. In the light of this the agency board will be giving further consideration at this month's meeting both to priorities in the coming year and to general strategy.
Mr. EllisThat is a disappointing reply. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that new companies which have sought assistance from the WDA, only to be refused, have then gone to other agencies and have established businesses in other parts of the United Kingdom? Is he further aware that there is clearly a bottleneck in the processing of applications to the WDA? When will these problems be overcome?
§ Mr. EdwardsI have received no evidence of a logjam, but it is not surprising that different agencies might take different decisions. The applications often take a different form by the time they are submitted again. However, I assure the hon. Gentleman that the board is not waiting until the completion of its deliberations before introducing new measures or changing its system. When it has considered these matters fully, I intend to seek further ways of reporting its decisions to hon. Members.