§ Mr. Nobleasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will categorise the various schemes of financial assistance available to industry through his Department for maintaining and improving employment; and what is the expenditure on each for each year since 1974, by (a) industry and (b) region.
§ Mr. GoldingThere are two such schemes available to industry through my Department—the temporary employment subsidy and the small firms employment subsidy. The expenditure on each is as follows:
Financial Year Temporary Employment Subsidy Small Firms Employment Subsidy £ million 1974–75 Nil Nil 1975–76 2.7 Nil 1976–77 92.4 Nil 1977–78 173.7 2.0 A breakdown of the expenditure by industry is not available and it would be at disproportionate cost to provide it by region.