§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) which Minister has primary responsibility for ensuring that England, Scotland and Wales do not compete against one another for inward investment; [66137]
(2) what roles the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales and he play in encouraging inward investment in England, Scotland and Wales; [66131]
(3) when details of the Concordat on Inward Investment will be published. [66152]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 18 January 1999]: The Invest in Britain Bureau—which is jointly managed by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office—is the national agency promoting the UK as the number one location for inward investment in Europe. It works in partnership, under the Committee on Overseas Promotion arrangements, with the inward investment agencies of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions.
There is no question of one Minister having primary responsibility for ensuring that competition between different parts of the UK is not wasteful. All Ministers have a collective interest in ensuring that offers of financial assistance represent value for money for the taxpayer.
The Government will be strengthening the current arrangements through a Concordat on financial assistance to industry. The Government expect that they will be in a position to publish the Concordat soon.