§ Mr. Stoddartasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how ministerial responsibilities are allocated within his Department in relation to the inner city areas selected by the Government for special assistance.
§ Mr. ShoreI shall chair meetings of the Minister-member level partnership committees for the London Docklands and Liverpool partnerships. In addition I shall have a particular responsibility for the inner area programme which I have invited the Wirral to prepare.
The Minister for Housing and Construction will chair the partnership committees for the partnerships in Birmingham and in Manchester and Salford. The Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich (Mr. Barnett), will chair the partnership committees in Islington and Hackney, and in Lambeth; the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Durham, North-West (Mr. Armstrong), will chair the Newcastle and Gateshead partnership.
The Minister for Housing and Construction will be responsible for oversight of the other cities which I have invited to prepare inner area programmes, apart from those which have particular links with the partnerships chaired by other Ministers. Thus he will be responsible for programmes prepared by Bolton, Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Oldham, Sheffield and Wolverhampton. My hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich will be responsible for the Hammersmith programme; and my hon. Friend the Member for Durham, North-West will be responsible for programmes in the Tyne and Wear "programme" authorities, i.e., North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland.