§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 3 June,Official Report, column 319W, on the A400M, when the Government was approached to provide financial assistance to Rolls-Royce, and by whom; if she will list the parties involved in the discussion to provide such assistance; when the decision was made to provide a grant to Rolls-Royce, subject to authorisation procedures; and who made that decision. [118839]
§ Jacqui SmithThis department has held an ongoing dialogue with Rolls-Royce over the provision of engines for the A400M.
Europrop International formally approached DTI requesting HMG support for Rolls-Royce as UK's partner in Europrop International at the end of April. Following close discussions between Rolls-Royce, Ministry of Defence and DTI officials, we felt able to issue a letter of intent to Rolls-Royce on 4 May 2003, indicating a willingness, subject to the usual
680Wwork—particularly mainstream work with young people in rural communities—is funded by other Government departments.
There are three specific strands of finance which are targeted particularly at young people. They are:
- (1) The Environmental Action Fund which helps voluntary groups in England working to promote sustainable development. The majority of projects involve young people to some extent and in 2003–03 the involvement of young people is a major component of projects totalling £1,023,664.
- (2) ENCAMS. Defra funds the environmental charity ENCAMS which is the parent organisation of the Tidy Britain Group, for work on litter, waste and local community initiatives in England. ENCAMS funding for youth related programmes and campaigns in 2002–03 was £252,000.
- (3) The Sustainable Development Fund which particularly targets the engagement of young people from rural and urban backgrounds on projects in the National Parks and the Broads which has £1 million for 2002–03 (increasing to £1.6 million for 2003–04).
In addition, Table 1 gives details of the funding made available to voluntary organisation across Defra's areas of responsibility, comparing 2000–01 and 2002–02. The total figure was nearly £39 million in 2002–03 compared with £20 million in 2001–02.
authorisation procedures, to provide financial support to Rolls-Royce for dual-use engine technology demonstration programmes associated with the A400M.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 3 June,Official Report, column 319W, on the A400M, what the total eligible technology demonstration programme costs are; what estimate she has made of the size of the grant to be provided to Rolls-Royce; what authorisation is being sought; and when approval is expected. [118840]
§ Jacqui SmithThe eligible costs of the technology demonstration programme(s) and therefore the potential grant related to it are currently being assessed with Rolls-Royce. The support will be delivered under an existing recognised and authorised scheme. The timing of any grant approval is a matter between Rolls-Royce and this Department.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 3 June,Official Report, column 317W, on the A400M, for whom the 681W evaluation to which she referred was prepared; how much it cost to research and produce; and who paid these costs. [118841]
§ Jacqui SmithDTI, as the issuing authority, will undertake the assessment, evaluation and authorisation of any grant in support of the engine technology demonstration programmes. The cost of the evaluation has not been quantified, but will be picked up within the departmental budget.