HC Deb 10 July 1978 vol 953 cc359-60W
Mr. Kenneth Clarke

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what estimates his Department has made of the proportion of industrial investment projects receiving aid under the selective investment scheme which would not have proceeded at all without State aid and the proportion which have merely been brought forward in time.

Mr. Cryer

Appraisal of the 75 projects approved under the selective investment scheme by 30th June 1978 indicated that 26 projects would probably not have been implemented at all, or not in the United Kingdom. The remaining 49 projects would probably have been implemented significantly later and/or on an appreciably reduced scale. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the guidance note on the scheme make it clear that only projects that will not take place—in relation to their nature, timing or scale—in the absence of assistance will be considered.