§ Mr. CranTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many responses he received to his consultation paper on city grant; how many firms attended seminars organised by his Department to discuss the scheme; and what changes were made to the scheme prior to its inception on 2 May in the light of such discussions.
§ Mr. TrippierA total of 119 written responses to the consultation document were received by 26 April. A short summary of these has been placed in the Library of the House.
Five seminars on city grant were attended by about 900 representatives from private sector firms and other organisations. The majority of respondents and those attending seminars welcomed the proposal to introduce city grant and most favoured the lower threshold of £200,000 project value.
City grant was introduced on 3 May for projects with an estimated value of £200,000 or more.