§ Sir A. Meyerasked the Secretary of State for Employment how much is expected to be applied for and received in £ sterling, in grants to the United Kingdom from the EEC Social Fund in 1978 and 1979 on current projections of the development of the Fund.
§ Mr. John GrantApplications totalling £166 million for 1978 and £23 million for 1979 have already been submitted to the EEC Commission. Against these, allocations of about £20 million for 1978 and almost £2 million for 1979 have so far been made. Most of these applications, however, await the Commission's decision. Further applications will be submitted during 1978 and 1979. The type and total volume of United Kingdom applications for 1978 and 1979 are expected to be similar to those of previous years.
Since there are no predetermined national quotas for the distribution of Social Fund grants, it is not possible to predict in advance the level of allocations to the United Kingdom either for the current year or for any future years. We do, however, hope that the United Kingdom's final totals of allocations for 1978 and 1979 will not fall below our previous minimum share, which would give a figure for 1978 of approaching £90 million. The 1979 budget for the Fund has not yet been decided.