§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which travel-to-work areas and other geographical units in Great Britain qualify for priority status under the European Social Fund and the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund.
§ Lord Young of GraffhamThe European Commission, in its decision C(87)814 final of 27th May 1987, designated the following travel-to-work areas as having priority status for the European Social Fund (ESF):—
- Part of Wrexham in Cheshire
- Workington in Cumbria
- Part of Sheffield in Derbyshire
- Llanelli in Dyfed
- Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Leigh, Oldham, Rochdale and Wigan in Greater Manchester Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley, Lancaster, Nelson,
674 Rossendale and Blackpool in Lancashire - Coalville in Leicestershire
- Parts of Grimbsy, of Hull and of Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire
- Corby in Northamptonshire
- Bradford, Castleford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Keighley, Todmorden and Wakefield in West Yorkshire
Additionally, the following counties/local authority areas were also designated as having priority status for ESF:
Central Scotland Merseyside Cleveland Mid Glamorgan Clwyd Northumberland Cornwall Nottinghamshire Durham South Glamorgan Fife South Yorkshire Gwent Staffordshire Gwynedd Strathclyde Highlands Tayside Humberside Tyne and Wear Isle of Wight West Glamorgan Lothian West Midlands In December 1987 the following were designated priority areas for ESF following amendment of the list of areas eligible for assistance under Article 56 of the European Coal and Steel Community:
- Copeland District (Cumbria)
- Derbyshire County
- Greater Manchester County
- Dover and Thanet Districts (County of Kent)
- North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedford
- Boroughs (County of Warwickshire)
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Regulations provide for certain priorities in managing the funds' resources as follows:—
- — for national priority areas. In Great Britain these are assisted areas, non-assisted parts of the Highlands and Islands Development Board and Development Board for Rural Wales areas, certain non-assisted areas eligible for "non-quota" special measures and urban programme areas eligible for the higher rate of Enterprises Initiative grant.
- — for European Community programmes. No British areas are covered by European Community programmes so far;
- — for integrated operations which may be accorded priority treatment. No applications have yet been approved by the Commission.
The European Regional Development Fund Regulations provide that in administering ERDF a priority shall be given to investment projects located in national priority areas.