§ Mr. Lambieasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give figures showing, for each of the past 10 years, the amounts of regional development grant paid to industries within Scotland and within the area covered by the Highlands and Islands Development Board, respectively.
§ Mr. TrippierFor the Highlands and Islands Development Board area, and for all areas below regional level, total figures are not readily available and to provide these would involve a disproportionate use of resources. In the table, the figures given for that area relate to individual payments of over £25,000, details of which are published quarterly inBritish Business. For reasons of comparison, similar figures for Scotland have been supplied as well as the total payments for that region.
Payments of regional development grant to (i) Scotland and (ii) the area covered by the Highlands and Islands Development Board (£,000) Financial year (i) Scotland (ii) Area covered by the Highlands and Islands Development Board (Total payments) (Payment of over £25,000) (Payments of over £25,000) 1974–75 61,614 n.a.* n.a.* 1975–76 98,455 n.a.* n.a.* 1976–77 108,195 65,922 6,963 1977–78 105,014 58,874 1,844 1978–79 107,344 66,654 1,189 1979–80 70,168 38,999 583 1980–81 113,265 69,002 2,704 1981–82 142,739 86,718 4,118 1982–83 287,309 238,603 118,749 1983–84 142,965 106,604 25,658 *n.a.—Figures not available. Prior to 1976–77, detailed statistics on regional development grant payments were not collected.