§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will consider a similar initiative for west Wales to that in operation in the valleys and proposed for north Wales.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe Welsh Office, the Welsh Development Agency, the Development Board for Rural Wales, the Wales Tourist Board, the local authorities and many others are all working together with the private sector further to develop the economy of west Wales. I am glad to say that unemployment in Dyfed has fallen by 45 per cent. since the last general election.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of the amount of development rural initiative venture and enterprise grant paid out by his Department in each year since its introduction; and if he will make a statement as to the future of the grant.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe development of rural initiative venture and enterprise grant scheme is operated by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and the Development Board for Rural Wales (DBRW) in their respective territories. Since its introduction initially on an experimental basis, in March 1986, these bodies have made grant payments shown in the following tables:
410WFollowing an independent evaluation of the experimental scheme it was reintroduced in September 1989. I refer my hon. Friend to answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (Mr. Raffan) on 27 July 1989 for further details.
WDA£ DBRW£ 1986–87 250,000 32,361 1987–88 420,000 91,938 1988–89 430,000 117,288