§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Industry how much money has been spent in the last six months in promoting (a) Merseyside, (b) the North-West, (c) the North-East, (d) Wales and (e) Scotland as suitable places for industrial investment.
§ Mr. CryerAs part of the Government's general and ongoing assisted area policy all these areas are wildly promoted from Government funds as suitable places for industrial investment.
I regret the information is not available in precisely the form requested but in 1975–76 (the latest year for which figures are available) it is estimated that the following amounts of regional preferential expenditure, for which my Department is responsible, were paid to firms in the following areas:
£ million Northern Development Area 121.2 North West Region of which Merseyside Special 71.3 Development Area 43 Yorkshire and Humberside Intermediate Area 23.0 Scotland 124.4 Wales 64.4 NOTES: The figures include regional development, grants, regional selective financial assistance, the investment grant differential, Local Employment Act residual expenditure and expenditure on land and factories.
The figures do not include expenditure by the offices for Scotland and Wales to which certain responsibilities for regional incentives were transferred during the course of the financial year.
In addition, development corporations organised on a regional basis are grant aided from central government funds. The three English regional development bodies will 595W receive the following grants in the financial year 1977–78:
£ North of England Development Council 250,000 North West Industrial Development Association 135,000 Yorkshire and Humberside Development Association 30,000 Grants paid to regional development bodies outside England are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.