§ Mr. LuffTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has yet considered the business plans of the English regional development organisations; and what level of financial support he proposes to offer for 1997–98. [21558]
§ Mr. Greg KnightI have studied the current performance and future plans of the existing eight English regional development organisations. I am pleased to say that they continue to make a significant contribution to the work of my Department's Invest in Britain Bureau, and to the overall success of the United Kingdom in attracting inward investment and in particular to their region's performance. I have also had detailed proposals for the establishment of new regional development organisations in the east and south-east of England. Taking all this into account I have today offered a total of £10,47 million in grants for the inward investment promotion activities of the existing regional development organisations for 1997–98 and to establish the two new ones in the east and south-east who are being offered grants of £505,000 each.
This represents an 18 per cent. increase in total RDO grants to enable the UK to remain competitive in promoting its locational advantages in the face of increasing competition for mobile inward investment projects. I have allocated the grant aid as follows:
783W
RDO 1997–98 grant (£000) Northern Development Company (NDC) 1,665 INWARD Ltd. (in the North West) 1,393
RDO 1997–98 grant (£000) Yorkshire and Humberside Development Agency (YHDA) 1,415 West Midlands Development Agency (WMDA) 1,314 East Midlands Development Company Ltd. (EMDC) 984 Devon and Cornwall Development International (DCDI) 954 London First Centre 1,015 West of England Development Agency (WEDA) 600 East of England Investment Agency 505 South East of England Regional Investment Office 505 Grant is offered on an annual basis according to past performance, ability to absorb additional funding effectively, and for an agreed programme of future activities, with proper regard to value for money. It is Government policy to encourage direct inward investment to the UK because it contributes significantly to economic growth. Inward investment brings benefits both to the country as a whole and more specifically to the assisted areas. The creation of new regional development organisations in the east and south-east of England completes the coverage of the UK map with such organisations and will greatly assist our efforts to attract inward investment.