§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs how much of the annual £10 million investment grant differential referred to in Chapter 9 of "The Task Ahead" accrued to each of the development areas; and what is his estimate of the annual cost of grants for free depreciation to concerns within the present development areas.
§ Mr. UrwinThere are no official estimates for the regional distribution of the £70 million—not £10 million as stated in the question—estimated to have been paid in differential investment grants in the year 1967–68. The same applies to the free depreciation allowed to firms within the development districts—which covered a much smaller area than the present development areas. It should be emphasised that the free depreciation scheme which ended in January, 1966 was not a grant scheme at all—as is implied in the question—but a system by which firms could opt to defer or advance tax liability, as desired.