HC Deb 24 May 1976 vol 912 cc24-5W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list those projects that have been or will be financed by the £4.6 million that the Government extracted from the £17.6 million allocated by the European Regional Development Fund; and how much will be or has been allocated to Merseyside.

Mr. Alan Williams

As I told my hon. Friend on 14th May—[Vol. 911, c.296]—the size of the programme of advance factories to be built in England which was announced on 28th November 1975 was fixed after account had been taken of likely receipts—including the recent allocation of £4.6 million—from the European Regional Development Fund. The English programme amounted to about £9 million, and of this £1.8 million will be spent on the construction of eight advance factories in the Merseyside Special Development Area.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what are the 16 projects on Merseyside which have received help from the European Regional Development Fund.

Mr. Alan Williams

I refer my hon. Friend to "Trade and Industry" for 7th May, which contains a list of the projects recently approved by the Commission for a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund towards its costs.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how much the allocation from the European Regional Development Fund works cut per head of unemployed person: (a) on Merseyside, (b) in the North-West, (c) the Northern Region, (d) Wales and (e) Scotland.

Mr. Alan Williams

On the basis of the unemployment figures for April 1976 and the European Regional Development Fund allocation to be made available in respect of projects in the relevant locations as a result of the Commission's decisions announced on 29th April, the information sought is:

Merseyside SDA £22.7
North-West (including Merseyside SDA) £14.7
Northern £62.6
Wales £43.2
Scotland £20.2