HC Deb 14 July 1994 vol 246 cc710-1W
Ms Coffey

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what discussions he has had with the European Commission about Regional Challenge;

(2) who will judge projects applying for funding for Regional Challenge;

(3) what factors led to the exclusion of Thanet, Plymouth and West Cumbria from Regional Challenge;

(4) when the criteria for bids for Regional Challenge will be published;

(5) what consultations have taken place; on what dates and with whom to ascertain the news of national and local agencies about Regional Challenge.

Mr. Sainsbury

[holding answers 13 July 1994]: My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has discussed Regional Challenge with Commissioner Millan twice and has exchanged correspondence. We intend that Regional Challenge grant decisions will be taken by the Government on the basis of recommendations from the monitoring committees. Thanet, Plymouth and West Cumbria were not included because of their small population.

Guidance on applications will be issued in due course. Officials have held discussions with local authority associations on various dates. My right hon. Friend and I have received a number of letters from hon. Members and others.

Ms Coffey

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the total allocations of objective 1 and 2 structural funds to Regional Challenge areas; and what percentage will be top-sliced for Regional Challenge per area.

Mr. Sainsbury

[holding answer 13 July 1994]: The structural funds objective 1 allocations were announced in the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Sir J. Hannam) on 27 July 1993, Official Report, column 497. The objective 2 allocations were announced in the answer given by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade to my hon. Friend the Member for Planet, North (Mr. Gale) on 13 April 1994, Official Report, column 230. On those occasions the allocations were given in ecu—for convenience I repeat them here in sterling for the areas eligible for Regional Challenge.

1£ million
Objective 1 (1994–1999)
Merseyside 628
Objective 2 (1994–1996)
North East England 237
Yorkshire and Humberside 241
East Midlands 61
West Midlands 285
Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire 253
Greater London 57
South Wales 145
1£ million, 1994 prices (£1 = 1.3 ecu).

The White Paper on competitiveness referred to total prize money for the first round of Regional Challenge competitions of £150—£200 million across the eligible English and Welsh areas, which also includes some classified under objective 5(b). The term top-slicing is misleading.