Mr. WaringTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the increase in employment on Merseyside to date as a result of its objective 1 status within the European Union. [28701]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordIt is too early to tell. We are only just starting to receive grant claims from those carrying out capital projects. Monitoring and evaluation systems to inform the objective 1 partnership are being designed and put in place to provide information on outputs, including jobs.