§ 5. Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Wales what is the value of the grants allocated to Wales from the European regional development fund in the past 12 months.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsForty-four million pounds.
§ Mr. EdwardsThe ERDF alone has brought in about £199 million, but if one takes the total of identifiable grants and loans from the European Community as a whole, it is well over £1 billion. In fact, it is about £1.123 million in total.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellAs Wales is among the poorest of the regions in the EC, does the Secretary of State accept the need not only for a radical reform of the EC budget, but to divert money into the regional development fund, hopefully for the future benefit of the Principality?
§ Mr. EdwardsWe must watch the total spending of the Community as well as the way in which it is distributed, but obviously it would be in the interests of Wales to see more of the total budget spent on regional policies of the kind referred to by the hon. Gentleman than on existing priorities.
§ Mr. Allan RogersDoes the Minister agree that his time would be better spent protecting the industries of Wales, particularly those that are reeling as a result of the harmonisation of industry directives in Europe, such as what happened at Chicopee, with the consequent loss of thousands of jobs to Wales in recent years, than scrambling about in America for vague promises of new industries to fulfil the demands of the European market?
§ Mr. EdwardsThe vague promises of new industries to which the hon. Gentleman refers are, in fact, an all-time record number of factory allocations this year—about 1.5 million sq ft of Government factory space allocated—and a record number of selective financial assistance applications for new jobs. They are all solid proposals and represent an important diversification and strengthening of the Welsh economy.