§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration he gave to the implications for the viability of the cargo centre development at Manchester international airport in allowing new freight agencies to qualify for grant-aid within areas of Manchester but specifically excluding the airport.
§ Mr. TrippierAgents facilitating freight transport will qualify under the new RDG scheme, which applies only to development areas. Decisions on qualifying activities were taken according to the likely effect on employment opportunities in the development areas as a whole; decisions on map coverage were based on areas' relative needs for employment opportunities. The Manchester TTWA is part non-assisted and part intermediate area, with the latter abutting other TTWAs which are also assisted. We included as much of the Manchester TTWA as was possible within a total map coverage of 35 per cent. of GB working population without excluding areas with a greater need.