§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out the EEC formula by which he calculates that present Government aid to capital projects in intermediate areas amounts to 4 per cent. of their total cost; and by the same formula what the comparable percentage is for present Government aid to capital projects in development areas as a proportion of their total cost.
§ Mr. Anthony GrantThe 4 per cent. figure refers to standard aids—that is, regional development grants—in intermediate areas. These are paid at the rate of 20 per cent. on investment in buildings only, which the European Commission is assuming represents 20 per cent. of the total investment. On the Commission's basis of calculation, therefore, the value of these aids represents only 4 per cent. of total project cost.
The corresponding figure for development areas is 18 per cent. and for special development areas 20 per cent.
183WThe figures exclude selective financial assistance and, for development areas, regional employment premium. They also exclude depreciation allowances for tax purposes which, being on a national basis, contain no element of regional differentiation.