§ Mr. StevensonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the amount per head of population of selective assistance, and EU economic regional assistance(a) in Stoke-on-Trent and (b) in the West Midlands in each of the last three years. [58834]
§ Mrs. RocheThe figures in the following tables show the amount of Regional Selective Assistance grant offered and accepted in the West Midlands Assisted Area (WMAA) and the amount per head. There are no separate RSA figures for Stoke-on-Trent which is not part of the WMAA and companies based there are not therefore eligible for RSA. The amount of European Structural Funds approved in programmes available in Stoke-on-Trent—Objective 2, Rechar, Objective 3 and Objective 4 has been collected within the most appropriate recording area—North Staffordshire—and compared to that in the West Midlands Region. No ESF figures were readily available for 1996 and 1997. 267W
Regional selective assistance Year Grant offered (£) Population (million) Amount per head (£) 1996 23,904,900 5.3 4.51 1997 53,460,000 5.3 10.09 1998 34,340,000 5.3 6.48
European structural funds Grant approved (£) Population Amount per head (£) Year Nstaffs WM Nstaffs WM Nstaffs WM ERDF (£ million) 19961 17.956 165.544 254,000 5.3 70.69 31.23 19971 1.199 12.094 254,000 5.3 4.72 2.28 19982 1.573 61.289 254,000 5.3 6.19 11.56 ESF (£ million) 1996 — 27.704 254,000 5.3 — 5.23 1997 — 10.203 254,000 5.3 — 1.93 1998 1.171 60.349 254,000 5.3 4.61 11.39 1 ESF information is available only from centrally held databases in the ESF Unit. Information has been requested but provided only for Objective 2 and Rechar on a regional basis in time for the deadlines for this exercise. Figures do not therefore contain the amounts approved in Objective 3 at all. Objective 4 was not available in the UK unit 1998. 2 ESF regionalisation has allowed the incorporation of ESF in all programmes including Objective 4 which has been available only from 1998.