§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the total amount of grants, loans and subsidies paid to industry in (a) the North-West, (b) Merseyside, (c) Kirkby and (d) Ormskirk in each of the last three years; and how much they amount to per head of the employed population.
Mr. Alan WilliamsExpenditure by the Department of Industry on regional incentives in the North-West, for the most recent three years for which figures are available, was as follows:
to the industrial development certificate control, when the exemption limit was raised from 5,000 sq. ft. to 12,500 sq. ft. in the South-East and provision made for IDCs in respect of the speculative replacement of obsolete industrial premises. In addition, qualifying firms in London stand to benefit from all of the schemes under Section 8 of the Industry Act 1972 to encourage investment in specific industries, which were introduced last year. Unemployment in London, however, at 4.1 per cent., remains below the national average, and much below the levels experienced in the development and special development areas.