§ 22. Mr. Dykesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that the United Kingdom is receiving as much money as it is entitled to obtain from the European social fund for counter-unemployment measures.
§ Mr. AlisonThe social fund, which does not operate under a system of national quotas, provides grants for schemes of training, job creation and resettlement of workers. Applications for assistance are assessed by the European Commission against the fund's eligibility rules and criteria for priorities.
Thus far, there has been little cause for complaint about the way in which the United Kingdom applications have been treated. The United Kingdom secured Fund allocations worth some £141 million in 1981, and £258 million in 1982.
Discussions are in train with the Commission about a number of applications for assistance in 1983.