§ Sir Irvine PatnickTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the type and the number of grants made by his Department to small businesses in the Sheffield area for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [42160]
§ Mr. PageInformation in respect of DTI grants currently available in the Sheffield travel-to-work area, which covers part of north Derbyshire, is given on the attached table.
If any small firms wish to know whether they are eligible for grants, they should contact Business Link, Sheffield on 0114 281 3813.
West Water and Norweb to the Monopolies and Merger Commission. [42182]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansAround 30 representations were received by this Department concerning the proposed merger between North West Water and Norweb; about a third of these were from hon. Members. Most of the correspondents were opposed to the merger or wished to see it referred to the Monopolies and Merger Commission. The correspondence was copied to the Office of Fair Trading so that the Director General of Fair Trading could take account of it in formulating his advice to my right hon. Friend, the President of the Board of Trade.
My right hon. Friend held no meetings with hon. Members to discuss the merger. He received one request for a meeting, from the all-party parliamentary water group.