§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of Stae for Trade and Industry how much has been spent in each year by the Government since 1983 on regional aid to industry to each of the English regions, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and through which agencies this finance was spent.
§ Mr. Giles ShawFigures for calendar years are not readily available, and expenditure is shown for financial years from 1983–84:
Expenditure1 at Current Prices £ million Region 1983–84 1984–85 1985–863 Northern 127.5 122.2 94.4 North West 101.4 101.6 85.9 Yorkshire & Humberside 35.5 41.9 34.3 East Midlands 17.6 10.1 8.3 West Midlands — — 5.5 South West 11.9 13.7 11.8 Scotland 222.4 184.5 204.7 Wales 113.5 141.1 132.1 Great Britain2 629.8 615.0 577.0 Northern Ireland 103.0 129.1 145.5 United Kingdom 732.8 745.1 722.5 Notes
1All figures are gross and include payments to nationalised industries.
2The Great Britain total does not always equal the sum of the component parts due to rounding.
3Figures for 1985–86 are provisional estimates.
The agencies through which this expenditure was spent are as follows:
English Regions
The Department of Trade and Industry and the English Industrial Estates Corporation.Scotland
The Scottish Office (Industry Department for Scotland), the Scottish Development Agency, the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the Department of Trade and Industry.Wales
The Welsh Office (Industry Department), the Welsh Development Agency, the Development Board for Rural Wales and the Department of Trade and Industry.Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Department of Economic Development and the Industrial Development Board.The items included in the expenditure are regional development grants and regional selective assistance under the Industrial Development Act 1982, and expenditure on land and factories by the English Industrial Estates Corporation, the Scottish and Welsh Development Agencies, the Development Board for Rural Wales, and 259W the Highlands and Islands Development Board. Northern Ireland has a different range of financial incentives available and the items included in the expenditure have been restricted to aids similar to the main forms of regional preferential assistance; these are selective financial assistance payable under part III of the Industries Development (NI) Order 1982, general assistance (capital) grants payable under part IV of the order, and land and factories expenditure.