§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he proposes to designate Lancashire as a region for assistance under the Retex initiative.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe European Commission has decided that grants under the Retex initiative, for regions heavily dependent on the textiles and clothing sector, should be available only within areas designated for objective 1, 2 or 5(b) of the structural funds. The travel-to-work areas of Accrington and Rossendale, Blackburn, Bolton and Bury, Burnley, Liverpool, Pendle, Rochdale and Wigan and St. Helens—which lie wholly or partly within Lancashire—are so designated.
The Commission has asked the Government to decide by 4 December 1992 which parts of the designated areas should receive Retex grants. I shall take a decision in due course.