HC Deb 14 November 1988 vol 140 cc405-7W
Mr. McLeish

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will provide figures on regional development grants for(a) the number of applications outstanding on 31 March, (b) the number of those outstanding applications that have subsequently been processed, (c) the number of those applications where payment has been made, (d) the number of those

North East North West Yorkshire and Humberside East Midlands South West
Number of applications outstanding at 31 March 1988 3,260 2,740 830 240 540
Number of these processed at end-October 1988 2,350 2,210 800 210 520
Number where some payment has been made by end-October 1988 350 420 110 30 120
Number still outstanding at end-October 1988 910 530 30 30 20
Grant paid (£ million) on applications outstanding at 31 March 1988 4.4 5.5 1.1 0.5 1.1
Total grant paid (£ million) from 1 April 1988 to 31 October 1988 24.5 23.1 7.8 3.8 4.6

Note:

All expenditure figures are gross of domestic receipts and expected receipts from the European Regional Development Fund.

Current 1988/89 provision RDG II in England is £122.2 million gross; this will rise to £135.2 million if Parliament approves Winter Supplementary Estimate proposals published on 10 November. Estimates of future expenditure in England are not broken down by region.

Questions about the operation of RDG in Wales are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Mr. McLeish

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if he will give(a) the total number of applications received for innovation grants from 1 April to the most recent date for which figures are available, (b) the total number of applications approved, (c) the total amount of expenditure involved and (d) the total estimated expenditure planned for that period, for Scotland, Wales and for each of the standard regions;

(2) if he will give (a) the total number of applications received for investment grants from 1 April to the most recent date for which figures are available, (b) the total number of applications approved, (c) the total amount of expenditure involved and (d) the total estimated expenditure planned for that period, for Scotland, Wales and for each of the standard regions.

Mr. Atkins

Regional enterprise grants became available on 1 April 1988 in the development areas, and on 1 September 1988 in South Yorkshire. The information requested, for the English regions for which DTI is responsible, for the seven months to 31 October 1988, is as follows:

applications that are still outstanding, (e) the total amount of money paid out since 31 March in regional development grants to those applications and (f) the total estimated planned expenditure for that period and for 1988–89 for Wales and each of the standard regions.

Mr. Atkins

The information requested in respect of the regional development grant scheme in England is as follows:

Regional Enterprise Grants
Investment Number of applications Number of offers Value of offers (£000)
North East 169 90 431
North West 219 124 800
Yorkshire and Humberside 58 18 138
East Midlands 13 8 37
South West 73 41 163
Total England 532 281 1,569
Payments of £84,235 have been made under Investment up to end October.
Innovation
North East 59 17 311
North West 70 23 487
Yorkshire and Humberside 21 8 173
East Midlands 4 2 50
South West 17 3 75
Total England 171 53 1,096

Payments of £26,000 have been made under Innovation up to end October.

The amount of expenditure paid out in any particular region depends on demand for the scheme and the appraisal of individual applications. The value of grants actually paid so far reflects the nature and timescale of the projects on which applicants have sought grants since scheme commencement in April.

Total provision for expenditure on regional enterprise grants in England in 1988–89 is £12.3 million. Questions about the operation of regional enterprise grants in Scotland and Wales are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales respectively.

Mr. McLeish

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the total estimated expenditure on regional development grants and regional selective assistance in 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91 for Wales and each of the standard regions.

Mr. Atkins

The total 1988–89 provision for expenditure on regional development grants and regional selective assistance in England is £317 million; this will become £312 million if Parliament approves Winter Supplementary Estimate proposals published on 10 November. Current year figures and estimates for future expenditure in England are not broken down by region. Information about planned expenditure in 1989–90 and 1990–91 will be published in the Public Expenditure White Paper in January. Expenditure as previously planned was set out in the reply given to the hon. Gentleman on 15 March 1988.

Questions about the operation of RDG and RSA in Wales are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Notes:

  1. (1) The figures given for 1988–89 are net of recoveries and domestic receipts, but gross of receipts from the European regional development fund.
  2. (2) RSA includes industrial and training grants, and expenditure under the business improvement services and exchange risk guarantee schemes.