HC Deb 04 November 1987 vol 121 cc729-30W
58. Mr. Moss

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for encouraging the movement of businesses into the poorer parts of the country.

Mr. Trippier

A number of my Department's programmes are aimed specifically at encouraging businesses to invest in inner city areas.

Urban development corporations, which operate in some of the most rundown areas, use their powers to acquire, reclaim and service land and their development control powers to create a climate of confidence to attract businesses and encourage them to invest.

Urban development grants are paid through local authorities to bridge the gap between the cost of a project and its value.

Urban regeneration grants work in the same way as urban development grants, but are paid direct to the private sector for projects which bring very large sites and buildings back into use.

Urban programme support for local authority assistance to industry is aimed at removing or reducing the competitive disadvantages suffered by business in rundown urban areas.

Other programmes help to encourage businesses to invest in other areas with economic difficulties.

Derelict land grant covers part of the net loss to the landowner as a result of carrying out reclamation work, and land registers bring to the attention of prospective developers details of unused and under-used land owned

Mr. Moynihan

Controls on inputs of potentially polluting substances to rivers which discharge into the North sea are designed to reduce to a minimum their harmful effects, that is, pollution. The table shows the estimated levels (in tonnes per annum) of the main discharges via British rivers in 1985.

by public authorities. The assistance provided by the Development Commission and its agent COSIRA is given to small firms operating or wishing to set up in particularly needy rural areas.

Our legislative proposals on the national non-domestic rate will remove a major obstacle to businesses wishing to set up or expand in those inner city areas which at present choose to have prohibitively high rates.