§ Ms WalleyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on the Government's position in respect of the NUTS review currently underway in the European Commission; and what is the timetable set for this review. [31320]
§ Mrs. LiddellI have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Joan Walley, dated 2 March 1998
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary questions on proposing Staffordshire as a single NUTS-2 area and on the Government's position in the NUTS review currently underway and the timetable for the review.After wide consultation throughout the UK, the Government Statistical Service submitted proposals for a revised NUTS structure to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in July 1997. A copy of the proposals was deposited in the House of Commons library. Those proposals included the classification of Staffordshire as a single NUTS-2 area.During negotiations, Eurostat have stressed that in their view the UK proposals contained too many NUTS-2 areas and that changes from the current structure were unjustified. Discussions are still continuing and an announcement will be made as soon as an agreement is reached.The original intention was to reach agreement by December 1997 but this has not been possible due to the prolonged negotiations. It is hoped that an agreement will be reached as soon as possible.