§ Mr. Hicksasked the Minister for Trade if he will list for each year since inception the amount of money made available by his Department to the three national tourist boards for Development of Tourism Act section 4 financial assistance; and what are these annual figures at 1970 equivalent value.
§ Mr. SproatThe Department of Trade makes funds available to the English Tourist Board to assist tourism projects under section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969. Section 4 assistance in Scotland and Wales are matters for the respective Secretaries of State. The following amounts have been expended by the English Tourist Board since the scheme's inception in 1971. The figures in brackets show the value of this expenditure at 1970 prices and have been calculated from the Retail Price Index.
£'000 £'000 1971–72 91 (83) 1972–73 560 (478) 1973–74 573 (448) 1974–75 685 (462) 1975–76 1,270 (689) 1976–77 1,458 (679) 1977–78 1,668 (670) 1978–79 1,350 (501) 1979–80 4,171 (1,364) 1980–81 4,278 (1,060) In 1981–82 the grant was £4,047,000 (£1,003,000) but final details of actual expenditure are not yet available.