§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish for Great Britain and for each region, for Scotland and Wales, his latest figure for the amounts paid in regional development grants in the financial year 1986–87; and if he will publish his estimate for the amount he expects to spend in Great Britain and for each region, Scotland and Wales, on regional development grants in 1987–88.
§ Mr. Giles ShawProvisional figures for payments of regional development grants in 1986–87 are as follows: 139W
Area £ million North East 89.8 North West 113.7 Yorkshire and Humberside 27.2 East Midlands 8.4 South West 14.6 Scotland 170.0 Wales 88.9 Great Britain Total 512.6 Provision for expenditure on RDGs in 1987–88, as set out in the Supply Estimates, is as follows:
£ million England 108.5 Scotland 69.0 Wales 33.6 Total 211.1 Notes:
(1) All figures are gross, before deducting recoveries and EC receipts.
(2) Estimates for future RDG expenditure are produced only for England as a whole and are not broken down by region.
As the Prime Minister pointed out in her letter of 12 February to the hon. Gentleman, this projected fall in expenditure is the result of the Government's 1984 decision to replace the old RDG scheme, which supported capital investment without reference to employment, by a new and more cost-effective scheme linked to the creation of jobs.