HC Deb 26 February 1997 vol 291 cc275-6W
Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what incentives he proposes for companies to locate new projects in(a) the south-west of Wales and (b) the western part of the coalfield valleys; and if he will make a statement. [16625]

Mr. Hague

Significant incentives are already available to companies wishing to locate in these areas through regional selective assistance, the Welsh Development Agency's various programmes and its promotion of the area for inward investment.

I want to see the benefits of our success in attracting inward investment spread more widely and have therefore announced that I shall be setting new and more demanding targets for the agency with the aim of securing a greater proportion of jobs and investment in those areas of Wales which are outside the eastern M4 and A55 corridors. I have also said that I will be asking the agency, within European Commission and other limits, to recognise the extra cost of locating in those areas.