§ Mr. Frank Fieldasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish details on an annual basis 263W of the budget of the Merseyside task force since its inception; and if he will break these sums down between Wirral and the rest of Merseyside.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinI have made funds available from my Department's programmes to support special initiatives on Merseyside. The money has been and is being spent on a wide variety of programmes and projects aimed at helping to tackle Merseyside's problems. Those funds have been substantially supported by Exchequer grant and have been administered by the Merseyside task force. They resulted in an outturn of £11.5 million in 1982–83 and £38.45 million in 1983–84; £35 million has been allocated in 1984–85. The figures for Wirral are £1.25 million in 1982–83; £4.29 million in 1983–84 and, to date, £4.5 million in 1984–85. The programmes concerned are: urban programme, derelict land, housing corporation and sport.