§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Conwy (Sir W. Roberts) of 30 October,Official Report, column 7, on which dates his Department received (a) a detailed letter and (b) reminders from the economic development department of South Glamorgan county council raising concerns about the threat to payments from the European regional development fund arising from the reduced grant in aid from his Department; and if he will make a statement. [42273]
§ Mr. HagueSouth Glamorgan county council raised a number of matters concerning the operation of the structural funds, including WDA participation, in a letter to my Department of 16 November 1994. The council provided further information related to the WDA's corporate plan on 2 February and wrote further on 2 and 17 March and 24 April 1995. There were informal exchanges between officials and the authority on 10 January and 21 February 1995. My predecessor gave an assurance to the House on 20 March 1995 about the propriety of WDA involvement in structural fund programmes, a view which has since been accepted by the European Commission.