§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what level of financial support she proposes to offer the English Regional Development Organisations for 1998–99. [35202]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe ten English Regional Development Organisations continue to make a significant contribution to the work of the Invest in Britain Bureau, to the overall success of the UK in attracting inward investment and in particular to their own region's performance. Having considered their future plans I have today offered £10.94 million of grant in total for their inward investment promotion activities for 1998–99.
This represents a 4.49% increase in the RDO grant total, and is 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 grants as follows:
£000 RDO 1998–99 Grant Northern Development Company (NDC) 1,665 INWARD Ltd. (in the North West) 1,393 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 (EEIA) 800 South East Regional Investment Limited (SERIL) 800 All grants are offered on an annual basis for an agreed programme of future activities aimed at maximising value for money in inward investment work at regional level.