§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with Welsh local authorities and other infrastructure-providing bodies in relation to the levels of(a) base and (b) supplementary credit approvals and the effect of his 1993–94 settlements on applications for European regional development fund assistance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David HuntThese issues have been raised at meetings of the Welsh Consultative Council on Local Government Finance and its capital working group, which are the forums for discussions with local authorities on local government finance issues including capital provision. I chaired meetings of WCCLGF on 26 November and 12 January. The CWG, involving my officials and officers from local authorities, met on 11 January.
I have not had consultations on these issues with other infrastructure-providing bodies in Wales.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what response he has received from the European Commission to the proposal to include rural Wales in the list of areas with objective status for European regional development fund assistance.
§ Mr. David HuntThe European Commission announced on 24 February their proposals for future objective 1 status which did not include rural Wales (Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys). I was extremely disappointed by its omission and will be raising this matter with Commissioner Millan when I meet him shortly.