§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary of State for Industry how much has been spent and promised, respectively, under Sections 7 and 8 of the Industry Act 1972 to private sector companies.
§ Mr. HefferUp to 30th September 1974, 1,493 offers of regional selective assistance totalling £113 million had been made to 7W companies in the private sector under Section 7 of the Industry Act 1972. The offers were made for projects expected to cost £970 million and to provide 116,000 new jobs. £16 million has been offered in respect of five projects under Section 8. These offers are additional to the sums made available under the Wool Textile Industry Scheme and the North Sea Credit Scheme details of which were announced to the House on 19th July 1973 and 6th November 1973 respectively.
Payments totalling £35 million under Section 7 and £8 million under Section 8 were made up to 30th September 1974.