§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) whether he will make further provision for the product and process development scheme;
(2) how much money has been made available for the product and process development scheme in each period of six months since its inception; and what are his proposals for the future funding of that scheme.
§ Mr. MacGregorAssistance offered under the product and process development scheme since its inception is as follows:
Period Assistance Offered Number of Projects (£ million) 1977–78 0.970 17 April 78—September 78 7.208 77 October 78—March 79 19.229 126 April 79—September 79 10.849 90 October 79—March 80 11.848 79 April 80—September 80 1.183 39 October 80—March 81 21.655 95 April 81—September 81 25.233 151 October 81—March 82 38.825 177 The scheme does not have a set financial limit. Funds are allocated annually in accordance with public expenditure provisions. As announced in the Budget innovation package, support for innovation, which includes product and process development, is being increased over the next three years.