§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) when he will reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Thurrock dated 26 August relating to assisted area status and objective 2 status; and what is the reason for the delay in his reply;
(2) on what dates in September he met representatives of Southend borough to discuss assisted area and objective 2 status for the Southend travel-to-work area; which hon. Members attended the meetings; which hon. Members representing any part of the Southend travel-to-work area were not invited to the meetings; and what plans he has to discuss assisted area objective 2 status for the Southend travel-to-work area with representatives of the Thurrock borough council and the hon. Member for Thurrock.
§ Mr. Sainsbury[holding answer 20 October 1993]: Among a large number of requests for meetings about the review of objective 2 and 5(b) areas, I received one from the hon. Member for Thurrock in his letter of 26 August and another from my right hon. Friend the Member for Southend, West (Mr. Channon).
I met my right hon. Friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor) and five representatives from Southend borough council on 8 September.
In response to the hon. Member's letter of 26 August, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Technology telephoned the hon. Member to offer a separate meeting with him and representatives of Thurrock borough council. This offer was, however, declined by the hon. Member and by the council and no further action was therefore taken on the letter.
403WI have no plans at this stage of the review for further meetings with local authorities. The Government's proposals for objective 2 areas, which include part of 404W Thurrock within the east Thames corridor area, and also part of Southend, are now being considered by the European Commission.