§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the reasons for the dates of approval of individual aid and trade provision projects not being given in the list to which he referred in his answer to the right hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) of 28 October 1993,Official Report, column 732; and if he will now make it his policy to provide the approval dates to Parliament.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe aid and trade provision scheme was established in 1978 and has been successful in securing over 270 overseas projects for Britain. In many of these projects the extended period of negotiation has meant that the project has been submitted for approval on more than one occasion. The list of successful ATP projects placed in the Library of the House is based on the dates when the formal Government-to-Government agreements or exchanges were signed for each project; this is the operative date for project commencement. Details of the684W dates of each individual approval is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. There are no plans to maintain such records centrally.