§ Mr. GaleTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to ensure that the Thanet travel-to-work area obtains the maximum possible European regional development funding and objective 2 funding for investment in infrastructure for central area initiative sites; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe Council regulations allow the member states three months from the date of the decision on eligibility, 20 January, to draw up and present to the Commission plans describing the uses to which it is intended to put the fund's grants. For this purpose the British objective 2 areas will comprise 13 plan areas. The plans are being prepared by Government Departments, with appropriate local consultation.
The Government have divided the indicative allocation, for the purposes of their plans, as follows:
The regulations allow a further six months to negotiate, on the basis of the plans presented, a Community support framework for each plan area. The frameworks will then govern the allocation and use of the fund's grants.
Plan area Million ecu (1994 prices) North East England 308 West Cumbria 25 Yorkshire and Humberside 313 East Midlands 79 West Midlands 371 Greater Manchester/Lancashire/Cheshire 329 Greater London 74 Thanet 14 Plymouth 29 South Wales 188 Eastern Scotland 121 Strathclyde 286 Gibraltar 5 2,142 Only after the Community support frameworks have been negotiated and adopted can detailed decisions be taken on projects to receive grant.