§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the European Commission to decide on his application to give Bulwell East, Bulwell 787W West and Byron wards in the Nottingham, North constituency objective 2 area status under the Rechar scheme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe whole of the city of Nottingham is already eligible for general "Objective 2" grants from the European Community structural funds. The Government's recent proposal to the European Commission was that Bulwell East, Bulwell West and Byron wards should be included among the coal-mining areas to benefit also from grants from the funds under the Rechar initiative.
The Commission has stated that it will determine and publish a list of eligible coal-mining areas for the purpose of Rechar by 27 April 1990.
Programmes of Rechar measures for the areas selected by the Commission will then be prepared, and I hope the Commission's decisions on these programmes, and on the amounts of Rechar grants, will be reached before the end of this year. The Commission's decisions on general "Objective 2" grants, for Nottingham city and other areas, will be taken separately.