Mr. Gareth ThomasTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on the scope and nature of her responsibilities in relation to the review of European structural funds in respect of Wales, indicating the timetable for action by her Department. [42470]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Department of Trade and Industry is the lead Department on the reform of European Structural and Cohesion Funds. Our responsibility is to co-ordinate UK policy on the reform for all Government Departments including Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Ireland offices.
Administration of Structural Funds programmes within Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh office. The Department of Trade and Industry has responsibility for co-ordination of issues affecting the UK as a whole.
During our Presidency, we intend to take the negotiations forward as efficiently and effectively as possible, focusing on the general regulations which deal with administrative simplification of the Funds. Discussions have started on the proposed regulations by
Consultation paper Start date for consultation exercise End date for consultation exercise Number of responses to completed exercises First stage of Pensions Review 17 July 1997 31 October 1997 over 2,000 Stakeholder Pensions: A Consultation Document 19 November 1997 31 January 1998 over 200 Green Paper, "New Ambitions for our Country: a New Contract for Welfare" 26 March 1998 31 July 1998 — Joint Green Paper with the Department for Education and Employment, "Meeting the Childcare Challenge" 19 May 1998 28 July 1998 — In addition, the Department has undertaken a number of consultations with interested organisations and people on specific technical issues.