§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer given to the hon. Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Mr. Butler), of 8 March,Official Report, column 204, if he will explain the original reasons for the suspension of the exceptional projects scheme and for the extension of the suspension to 30 June 1994; for how many years the scheme was in operation; and how many projects there were and with how much expenditure in each year of the scheme's existence.
§ Mr. SainsburyRegarding the suspension of the exceptional projects scheme, I refer the hon. Member to my announcement of 26 January 1993,Official Report, columns 973–74.
The scheme was open for applications in the five years 1988–89 to 1992–93. In that time, 60 projects were submitted, of which only three succeeded in meeting the criteria. Two offers of grant totalling £5 million were approved in 1989–90 and one of £20 million in 1992–93.