§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what benefits have accrued to Wales from the European Community's Perifra I and II re-training schemes.
§ Mr. David HuntThe EC Perifra programme is intended to part-finance small-scale measures in favour of peripheral regions and destabilised activities in the Community. In the case of defence industries, assistance is intended to alleviate the consequences of job losses by promoting the creation of alternative employment opportunities, and eligible activities include vocational training schemes.
The Welsh Office submitted an application under Perifra I last year for the re-development of the Royal Navy armaments depot, Milford Haven. Unfortunately, that application was dependent upon the local authority purchasing the land, and this did not happen; the bid was therefore withdrawn.
A further bid for £775,000 in grant support under Perifra II was prepared for the west Wales area in close collaboration with the west Wales task force and submitted to the European Commission in June this year. On 3 August, the Commission announced that west Wales would receive a reduced allocation of £140,000 for the training and employment in technology scheme sponsored by the west Wales training and enterprise council in partnership with the Employment Service and Welsh Development Agency. This will, of course, complement my own priority actions in the west Wales area. The size of the allocation is, however, disappointing and is considerably less than we had hoped for. My officials are seeking an urgent meeting with their Commission colleagues to discuss the whole issue.