§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all allocations of finance from the European social fund towards the costs of schemes run by the Manpower Services Commission in the current financial year; and how these allocations compare with (a) the amounts applied for and (b) the gross costs of these schemes.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonEuropean social fund support for Manpower Services Commission schemes cannot be shown exactly for financial years since the length and timing of periods of ESF support varies for individual schemes. The total allocation for the 1983 ESF budget towards the costs of MSC schemes was £251,852,248. Further applications are currently being made or considered for 1984—including the last three months of the financial year 1983–84. Some MSC schemes have been given the full amount requested, others a proportion, according to the priority given to them by the European Commission under the fund guidelines. Since ESF allocations are made on the basis of estimated eligible expenditure and not all MSC expenditure on these schemes is eligible for fund assistance, it would be misleading to compare allocations directly with the gross costs of MSC schemes. Should the hon. Member require further information on the applications made in respect of particular MSC schemes, I will be pleased to write to him.