§ Mr. Bevanasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has decided upon the amount of grant in aid he is making available to each of the five English regional development organisations in 1985–86; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Norman LamontOn the basis of the programmes of promotional activities which each of the five English Regional Development Organisations have submitted to me, I am making available the following amounts of grant in aid in 1985–86:
£ North of England Development Council (NEDC) 760,000 Yorkshire & Humberside Development Association (YHDA) 400,000 Devon & Cornwall Development Bureau (DCDB) 210,000 West Midlands Industrial Development Association (WMIDA) 130,000 North West Industrial Development Association (NORWIDA) 75,575* * For six months. The NEDC, YHDA and DCDB are meeting the conditions which I laid down for non-matching funding, and their grant in aid is therefore not linked to pound for pound matching arrangements with the local authorities. WMIDA has been established for only one full year and its grant in aid, which has been increased to £130,000, remains conditional on matching funding. The grant in aid to NORWIDA will also remain conditional on the local authorities continuing to match the DTI contribution on a pound-for-pound basis. I shall be prepared to enter into 575W further discussions about the provision of additional grant in aid for NORWIDA or a successor body for the second half of 1985–86.