HC Deb 21 December 1989 vol 164 cc444-5W
Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much European social fund funding Leeds will lose for training programmes for long-term unemployed adults and unemployed young people in the coming year.

Mr. Eggar

Allocations to particular programmes have yet to be made. To date, support under the European social fund is made for one year at a time. Funding in one year carried no guarantee of support for future years.

Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the parameters now used to determine the allocation of European social fund money.

Mr. Eggar

Under the new European social fund arrangements the Commission determines the amount to be allocated to the member states and decides on the applications submitted earlier this year. The regulations on priorities for the schemes were agreed by all member states within the Community. In addition, the Commission has issued guidelines on those elements of the fund to support measures for the long-term unemployed and young people, which they have said they will apply in assessing applications for support. These regulations and guidelines have been widely circulated to all interested parties. This week the Commission published its Community support framework for four of the five objectives of the fund. They set out the priorities that the Commission and member states will adopt in assessing applications for support in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his policy that any overflow of European social fund training grants should be reallocated to local authorities that already have well-established European social fund programmes.

Mr. Eggar

We expect that all allocations by the European Commission of ESF will be fully taken up by the applicants concerned.

Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a list of all the major schemes in order of amount supported by the European social fund.

Mr. Eggar

A copy of the latest European social fund decision on the funding of all United Kingdom applicants has been lodged in the House of Commons Library.

Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table of the European social fund training grants allocation to Leeds from 1979 to 1989, inclusive.

Mr. Eggar

Details of allocations to individual towns and cities can be identified only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish his Department's reply to correspondence from Leeds city council about reduced European social fund allocations to training projects.

Mr. Eggar

It is not my Department's policy to publish correspondence with other organisations and individuals.

Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will set out the new criteria for the European social fund bid allocations to local authorities.

Mr. Eggar

My Department used the European Commission's own criteria of assistance to the long-term unemployed and to youth to produce percentage figures by region and, within that, by county based on long-term and youth unemployment, to facilitate the compilation of the bids for European social fund support. My Department then advised interested organisations of an overall amount they could bid for taking into account the likely demand from all quarters and the European Commission's requirement that bids should be realistic.