HC Deb 30 November 1982 vol 33 cc154-5W
Mr. Arnold

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what categories of financial assistance are now available to manufacturing firms within Greater Manchester.

Mr. MacGregor

[pursuant to his reply, 26 November 1982, c. 588]: The main assistance measures currently provided by the Department of Industry and therefore available to the manufacturing firms within Greater Manchester are as follows:

  1. (a) General support arrangements under section 8 of the Industry Act 1972 for assisting large projects;
  2. (b) Six schemes offering assistance under section 8 of the Industry Act are as follows:
    1. (i) Flexible manufacturing—including robotics—scheme;
    2. (ii) Coal firing scheme;
    3. (iii) Private sector steel;
    4. (iv) Microelectronics industry support programme;
    5. (v) Computer aided design and test equipment support;
    6. (vi) Small firms loans guarantee scheme.
  3. (c) Support for innovation; a general support facility for promoting research and development. Special arrangements within this facility include:
  1. (i) Microeletronics application project;
  2. (ii) Information technology;
  3. (iii) Fibre optics and optoelectronics scheme;
  4. (iv) Electronic computer aided design, manufacture and test;
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  5. (v) Computer aided design and computer aided manufacture;
  6. (vi) Software products scheme;
  7. (vii) Advisory service for small and medium-sized companies.

In addition, regional support under the Industry Act 1972 is available to firms in the assisted parts of Greater Manchester—the travel-to-work areas of Bolton, Leigh, Rochdale and Wigan. This support covers:

  1. (a) Regional development grants, at 15 per cent. to manufacturing firms in development areas (Rochdale and Wigan).
  2. (b) Selective assistance under section 7 of the Act in all categories of assisted areas.
  3. (c) Inclusion in the assisted areas factory building programmes of the English Industrial Estates Corporation. There will remain the scope for extending existing EIEC factories outside the assisted areas.
  4. (d) Assistance from the quota section of the European regional development fund.