HC Deb 12 December 1988 vol 143 cc442-4W
Mr. Wilson

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many fraud investigations, in connection with payments of regional development grant, are in hand at present.

Mr. Lang

At present 24 cases are under investigation by the police in Scotland. In addition, a number of other cases are being reviewed and some of them may be brought to the attention of the police.

Mr. Wilson

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many jobs were supported through the payment of regional development grant in each of the past five years; how many of these jobs were retained for at least 12 months; and how many he estimates to be still in existence.

Mr. Lang

Payments under the original regional development grant scheme (RDG1) were not tied to the creation of jobs. Jobs linked to payment authorisations under the revised regional development grant scheme (RDG2) since its inception in November 1984 are as follows:

Number of new jobs
1984–85 nil
1985–86 4,490
1986–87 12,360
1987–88 13,720
1988–89
(to end Nov) 9,160

The RDG2 scheme encompasses capital grant, job grant and grant associated with the provision of both assets and jobs. The rules that govern payments under the scheme require that assets or jobs have to be retained for 36 or 18 months respectively. Completed projects are normally visited within this period. Although comprehensive figures for jobs retained for just 12 months are not available, these visits have revealed that around 1,400 of the 35,240 jobs created since April 1986 had been lost by the time of the visit. Beyond this, it is not possible to make reliable estimates for the number of jobs still in existence.

Mr. Wilson

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to detect and eliminate fraud to the payment of regional development grants.

Mr. Lang

Examination procedures to detect fraudulent claims have been in place since the inception of the scheme. It would not be in the public interest to give further details.

Mr. Allen Adams

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to introduce new guidelines for the granting of regional development grants to private companies in Scotland in the next financial year.

Mr. Lang

No. The statutes and procedures under which the regional development grant schemes are operated throughout Great Britain provide an adequate framework. The administration of the schemes is under constant review.

Mr. Allen Adams

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many jobs have been created as a result of regional development grant in the last year.

Mr. Lang

Payments under the original regional development grant scheme (RDG1) were not tied to the creation of jobs. Payment authorisations for job grant under the revised regional development grants scheme (RDG2) in the latest financial year (1987–88) were linked to the creation of over 13,700 jobs.

Mr. Dunnachie

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, in view of the investigation by the fraud squad in Strathclyde region on alleged abuse of the regional development fund, he will take steps to tighten up the system for awarding such grants.

Mr. Lang

The administration procedures of regional development grant are under constant review. Many of the investigations presently being undertaken by the fraud squad of Strathclyde police are a direct consequence of the vigorous application of the existing scrutiny procedures.