§ Mr. Cantasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make 629W funds available to the larger local authorities so that they can prepare input-output tables for their areas, to provide a more effective basis for employment policies, planning and, in particular, a reappraisal of regional policy and selective assistance schemes for industry.
§ Mr. ShoreAn experimental project has just been launched in North Staffordshire. The work is being undertaken by Keele University in consultation with Staffordshire County Council and is funded by my Department. I think we should wait and see how successful this is before considering whether work on input-output tables can usefully be extended.