§ Mr. Pikeasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any figures for jobs created as a result of grants from the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe European Commission has estimated that, from the inception of the European regional development fund in 1975 to the end of 1983, grants were awarded to industrial projects in the United Kingdom which directly created 109,790 new jobs and preserved 52,590 existing jobs. In addition, about 70 per cent. of the allocations to the United Kingdom in that period were made to capital investments in infrastructure, and this resulted indirectly in the creation of many more jobs. Information on the European Social Fund is not available in the same form but, of the figure of about 1,200,000 people taking part in training and employment schemes supported by the fund in the United Kingdom in 1984, about 300,000 were on job creation schemes.