§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list the schemes and projects with their estimated costs that are to benefit in the regions of the United Kingdom when the RECHAR monies for revitalising mining areas are released from the European Commission.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Reay)It is not possible to give such a list. The procedure of the European Community Structural Funds is that indivdual schemes and projects are selected for grant, among competing eligible applications, only after the European Commission has approved "operational programmes" setting out the general terms and conditions of the grants and the total amount available. The United Kingdom sent proposed RECHAR operational programmes for eleven coalfield areas to the Commission in July 1990, but the Commission has not yet approved them.