§ Dr. John Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what is his estimate of the cost of intermediate area assistance in a full year to each of the seven new intermediate areas;
(2) what reduction in assistance to industry in each of the five development areas in a full year will result from the decision to end the selective employment tax additional payment;
(3) what will be the estimated net effect of the ending of the selective employment tax additional payment to the development areas and of the introduction of intermediate area assistance expressed in financial terms for each of the standard regions in Great Britain in a full year.
§ Mr. UrwinWithdrawal of the selective employment premium will result in204W the following savings in expenditure in the development areas: Scotland £10 million, the North £7 million, Merseyside £4½ million, Wales £3 million and the South West nearly £½million. The distribution between intermediate areas of the proposed financial assistance will depend to such an extent on the response of industry and local authorities in particular areas that it would not be meaningful to attempt to give a breakdown of the broad estimate we have made of the overall cost of the measures. Thus it would not, at this stage, be practicable to estimate the net effect as requested by my hon. Friend.