§ Mr. Parkasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether in the West Midlands office of his Department there is a team of civil servants whose objective is to encourage firms in the West Midlands to move to development areas; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan WilliamsAll my Department's regional offices have responsibility for administering our industrial and regional policies. In the West Midlands there is a group of officials whose duties include handling, in respect of projects to be carried out in the region, applications for financial assistance under our accelerated projects and industry schemes. They also deal with IDC applications for the region, applications for regional selective assistance for the Oswestry intermediate areas and inquiries about our schemes for encouraging industrial development in the assisted areas.