§ 2.52 p.m.
§ Baroness Elliot of HarwoodMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will give details of the latest grants that the United Kingdom is to receive from the European Regional Development Fund.
§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Lord Young of Graffham)My Lords, the United Kingdom has continued to receive commitments of grant from the European Regional Development Fund. The latest grants were announced on 6th and 27th January, 1988. In total, 416 projects were offered support and the total value of commitments was £213 million. This brings the total of grants committed to the United Kingdom during 1987 to £396 million and since the inception of the Fund in 1975 to nearly £2,800 million.
§ Baroness Elliot of HarwoodMy Lords, I thank the Minister for his admirable reply. However, I should like to ask one further question. Can the noble Lord confirm that the money is directed towards those parts of the country most in need of it?
§ Lord Young of GraffhamMy Lords, some negotiations as to where the moneys will go have yet to be concluded. However, it has been agreed that less developed regions within the Community will receive a larger share of the structural funds. Within the United Kingdom, only Northern Ireland is a less developed region. I am happy to confirm to my noble friend that it appears that United Kingdom receipts from the regional fund will grow significantly over the next few years.
§ Lord GrimondMy Lords, will the Minister explain what part Her Majesty's Government play in choosing those projects? Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, will he give the House an assurance that the existence of the grants from the European Regional Development Fund does not mean that the Government will cut the grants they otherwise would have made?
§ Lord Young of GraffhamMy Lords, it is in a way a cause for congratulation that less and less of the United Kingdom is becoming a "less developed region" within the European Community. I assure all in your Lordships' House that central government are not changing their policy with regard to support for regions. The detailed negotiations within the Community as to the precise allocation of those funds have yet to take place.
§ Lord Williams of ElvelMy Lords, following the question of the noble Lord, Lord Grimond, are the grants made from the European regional fund netted-off against grants to those recipients from UK official sources? In other words, does the receiver obtain no more as a result of a grant, or does he receive exactly what he would have in the first place from the national Government?
§ Lord Young of GraffhamMy Lords, this is a complex matter. Approximately two-thirds of the receipts from the fund go towards local authority and public utility infrastructure. They save about half the cost of the capital expenditure in the eligible areas. If the noble Lord cares to put down a Question about the precise allocation of those moneys, I shall be happy to enlighten him.
§ Lord Harmar-NichollsMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that there is a feeling in some quarters that the United Kingdom is not as adept at obtaining grants as are some other parts of the Community, especially France.
§ Lord Young of GraffhamMy Lords, I am happy to assure my noble friend that there is a feeling in other parts of the Community that the United Kingdom is rather too adept at receiving those grants.
§ Lord Cledwyn of PenrhosMy Lords, am I right to assume that the Secretaries of State for Wales and Scotland and their offices are brought fully into consultation both in Brussels and in London?
§ Lord Young of GraffhamMy Lords, I do not speak in your Lordships' House with responsibility for Scotland or Wales. I have said that at present, while the broad shape of the structural funds—that they should be doubled by 1993—has been agreed, no decisions have been taken about the size of the three individual funds or of the United Kingdom's share. No doubt, within the United Kingdom, the respective Secretaries of State are fully involved in the allocation of those moneys.
§ Lord Cledwyn of PenrhosMy Lords, that is a most extraordinary and unsatisfactory reply. Can the Minister give an assurance that his right honourable 654 friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and Scotland were fully consulted by him about those consultations and that they, or their representatives, were in Brussels when those matters were discussed?
§ Lord Young of GraffhamMy Lords, I cannot give that assurance because I was not consulted in these negotiations. As I have already said, the overall shape of the structural funds has been settled, but the discussions about the size of the three structural funds, or the United Kingdom's share, have yet to take place. I should remind the noble Lord that the Question on the Order Paper is on another subject.