§ Mr. IngramTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give the aid received in each of the last three years by textile companies, man-made fibre companies and clothing companies under the following categories(a) regional development grants, (b) regional selective assistance and (c) other assistance, under the Industrial Development Act 1982; and how many of the companies involved had less than 500 employees.
§ Mr. AtkinsPayments to these industries1 in the last three calendar years were as follows:
£ million 1985 1986 1987 Regional development grants (RDG)2 8.0 21.5 11.3 Regional selective assistance 7.2 9.4 9.7 Other schemes3 0.5 0.2 0.4 1 Payments have been categorised by reference to the 1968 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) in respect of the original RDG scheme (textiles, including man-made fibres—order XIII; clothing and footwear—order XV). For all other schemes of assistance including the revised RDG scheme data has been provided by reference to the 1980 SIC (textiles—class 43, man-made fibres—class 26 and clothing—class 45, excluding footwear). 2 Consists of original and revised RDG payments. 3 Other assistance has been defined as payments under the Support for Major Projects, Innovation Linked Investment, and Advanced Manufacturing Technology schemes. Information on the proportion of these payments made to companies with fewer than 500 employees is not available.