Inward Investment (Hansard, 21 April 1998)

§ Mr. Love
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the total amount of inward investment by region in the United Kingdom for each of the past 10 years. [38380]

§ Mr. Ian McCartney
The available data are shown in the table. These are based on administrative information provided to the Department's Invest in Britain Bureau (IBB) by companies. There is no requirement to notify the Department of investment decisions, therefore the data are probably underestimates of actual investment.
Although investment will usually be spread over a number of years, the total amount of the investment is recorded only in the year the announcement to invest was made.
The regions shown are Regional Development Organisations (RDOs).

§ Mr. Gale
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the Director General of the BBC concerning the corporation's commercial relationships with private companies. [39057]

§ Mr. Fisher
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's discussions with the Director General and others at the BBC frequently touch on the Corporation's commercial relationships. It is, however, primarily for the BBC Governors to ensure that such relationships are conducted on a basis which maximises the return to the licence fee payer while respecting fair trading and competition rules and promoting the overall interest of the BBC as a public service broadcaster.
565W

§ Mr. Gale
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what policies his Department has to stimulate the development of public service digital terrestrial broadcasting. [39011]

§ Mr. Fisher
The offers of guaranteed places on digital terrestrial television multiplexes, which have been accepted by all the existing terrestrial television broadcasters, will safeguard public service broadcasting and will enable those broadcasters to increase greatly the amount of programming they can deliver. The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and S4C have all stated their intention to offer new services, some of which will be free to air.