§ Mr. StephenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a further statement about the future of the assistance for exceptional projects scheme of financial support for investment and research and development projects. [36072]
§ Mr. EggarAssistance for exceptional projects operated in all areas of Great Britain under section 8 of the Industrial Development Act 1982. The House will know that AEP has been suspended since March 1993 because of the Government's doubts about the effectiveness of the scheme. A further announcement about its continued suspension was made in March 1994. During the five years 1988–89 to 1992–93 that the scheme was open for applications, only three projects met the very exacting criteria for support out of 60 applications made. The Government continue to be satisfied that it has the necessary means to support exceptional projects and has concluded that the AEP facility should not be reintroduced.