§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) what was the total Government assistance to industry for the financial years 1974–75 to 1978–79, inclusive, for the Northern region of England and for Wales, respectively;
(2) what was the average assistance to industry per head of the population for the years 1974–75 to 1978–79, inclusive, for the Northern region of England and for Wales, respectively.
Expenditure Year Northern region £ million Per head of population £ Wales £ million Per head of population £ million 1974–75 … … … 62.1* 19.8* 46.6 16.9 1975–76 … … … 116.7 37.3 67.4 24.4 1976–77 … … … 171.8 55.0 76.5 27.6 1977–78 … … … 154.0 49.4 89.1 32.2 1978–79 … … … 163.9 52.9 107.7 38.9 Notes:
(1) This includes expenditure on regional development grants, selective financial assistance under sections 7 and 8 of the industry Act 1972, and on land and factories. Since 1 July 1975 regional selective assistance under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 to firms in Wales has been administered by the Welsh Office, and since 1 January 1976 factories there have been built by the Welsh Development Agency. Expenditure under section 8 of the Industry Act 1972 excludes payments made to individual firms and payments made under the offshore supplies interest relief grant scheme as it is not always possible to allocate payments made in these cases to specific regions or areas. Expenditure under section 7 of the Act excludes the following payments to the Ford Motor Company which were shared between the North-Western region of England and Wales but which cannot be allocated specifically:
1977–78 1978–79 £m £m 4.3 52.0 (2) All figures are at outturn prices. They are gross and include payments to the nationalised industries of regional development grants and selective Financial assistance.
(3) Aside from expenditure on land and factories, there is no predetermined allocation of regional preferential expenditure between separate areas or regions. Expenditure under such schemes depends, therefore, on the level of applications from eligible firms within the areas or regions concerned.
* The 1974–75 figures for the Northern region exclude expenditure on land and factories. They are therefore not comparable either with the corresponding figures for Wales for the year, or to figures for the later years.