§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the level of funding from the regional development agencies for rural areas. [65110]
§ Mr. MealeI have been asked to reply.
The Department has received a number of representations on this issue. However, in the White Paper on the Regions, "Building Partnerships for Prosperity", the Government made it clear that their strong commitment to rural regeneration would continue to be reflected in the RDAs' funding for rural areas. There will be separate allocations for rural funding, and an integrated rural regeneration element of the Single Regeneration Budget.