§ Mr. Michael Heseltineasked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what was the cost of maintaining each of the 11 regional economic planning councils and the 11 regional economic planning boards, respectively, in the year 1968.
§ Mr. UrwinThe estimated current annual costs of the regional offices of my Department are given below. These figures cover the wider activities of the Department in the eight English regions and it is not practicable to isolate the costs of either the eight English regional economic planning councils or the boards.
£ Northern 57,000 Yorkshire and Humberside 54,000 East Midlands 35,000 East Anglia 33,000 South East 54,000 South West 51,000 West Midlands 42,000 North West 57,000 Responsibility for the councils and boards for Scotland and Wales rests with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales. The Government of Northern Ireland are responsible for the comparable planning machinery in Northern Ireland.