§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has concerning the number and estimated cost of bids made by Welsh local authorities for European regional development fund support for projects during 1993–94; and what provision he has made for supplementary credit approval for them.
§ Mr. David HuntThe invitation to bid for European regional development fund support under the Welsh structural funds programmes for the calendar years 1992 and 1993 attracted a total of 1,200 outline applications from all potential sponsors, including local authorities, with an estimated grant potential of some £290 million. These bids represented a considerable overbid against the446W total resources of some £120 million available to the Welsh programmes, and the monitoring committees charged with implementing the programmes are undertaking a selection process to identify those projects which should be supported from the funds available.
I will be making the necessary provisions to enable SCAs to be issued to match in full that element of an authority's expenditure from 1 April 1993 which is reimbursed by European regional development fund grants.