§ Mr. Nealeasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) in the light of the acute financial difficulty being caused to Cornish companies eligible for regional grants from his Department as a result of the practice of delaying payment of such 136W grants until four months after such payment is approved, if he will review the procedure in order to expedite payment;
(2) how many staff are employed by his Department processing regional grant applications to industry in Cornwall; how many such grant applications have been received since 3 May; and what is the average processing time from the date of application to the date of payment.
§ Mr. David MitchellThe information is not available in the form requested. Applications for regional development grant from Cornwall are dealt with by the regional development grants office in Cardiff which is responsible for the administration of the regional development grant scheme in Wales and the South- West. The office has 126 staff. 2,771 applications were outstanding on 11 May 1979, the nearest convenient date and this had been reduced to 2,718 by 6 June 1980. In this period 8,402 claims were received and the average processing time is estimated to have been 18 weeks. Applications made after 12 June 1979 are additionally subject to the four months deferment in the payment of approved claims announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget Statement on 12 June 1979. This deferment was part of the Government's essential cuts in public expenditure and there is no present intention of lifting or reducing this deferment.