§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his plans for financial assistance to industry in Wales.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI shall publish tomorrow a statement entitled "Enterprise Wales"/"Menter Cymru" and will place copies in the Library of the House. This will describe my plans for increasing expenditure by the Welsh Office on industry in Wales in the next financial year. It will set out changes to the industrial grant regime, including the ending of regional development grant and the introduction of a number of new grant schemes. I have no plans to change the geographical coverage of assisted areas and regional selective assistance will continue to be available in these areas. I shall also be making increased resources available for development agency work. I am confident that the new programme will foster the enterprise spirit and achieve significant improvements in the competitiveness of Welsh industry.