§ Mr. BatisteTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many companies in receipt of a cash grant from his Department to establish business in a particular place have discontinued such business within five years of establishment.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation in the form requested is not available. However, it is possible to provide some figures for companies which have received regional selective assistance. Since the introduction of the current guidelines for RSA in November 1984, 24 companies which received RSA towards establishing new businesses in England are known to have discontinued such business. These companies received some £659,000. Recovery of grant is pursued in appropriate cases. By comparison, over 600 projects in total have received RSA to establish businesses in England over the same period with associated grant payments to date of £43.6 million.