§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from local authorities with designated assisted area status which are trying to progress necessary infrastructure schemes on the effect of the removal of automatic supplementary credit approval for road schemes under the Industrial Development Act 1982; and what plans he has to review this policy.
§ Mr. KeyThe Department has received representations from three local authorities and a local authority association about recently revised arrangements for grants under section 13 of the Industrial Development Act—IDA. Under the new arrangements grants are calculated on the total costs of schemes and deductions are no longer made for contributions from European regional development fund grants and from the private sector. The changes are intended to ensure that as many worthwhile schemes as possible can be supported and to provide incentives to maximise private sector involvement. Supplementary credit approvals—SCAs—have never been automatically available, but local authorities can continue to include bids for SCAs in their transport policies and programmes.