§ Lord Brabazon of Taraasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any wards or groups of wards which would otherwise have been eligible for inclusion in their list of proposed Assisted Areas were excluded because their population did not aggregate to 100,000; and, if so, which. [HL3803]
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§ Lord Simon of HighburyMany wards could not be included because, individually or in groups, they were isolated. However, it is not possible to list them individually, because the exercise of identifying the compact contiguous groups of wards with a population of over 100,000 was not undertaken independently of the exercise of combining areas of need with major areas of opportunity for employment creation, investment and regeneration.
§ Lord Brabazon of Taraasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the definition of "contiguous" used in Annex C of the Government's proposals for new Assisted Areas, published on 15 July; and whether a national, regional or county boundary within the United Kingdom or a river, mountain or sea division prevents two otherwise contiguous wards from being treated as contiguous for the purpose of those proposals. [HL3804]
§ Lord Simon of Highbury"Contiguous" is not defined in the European Commission's Regional Aid Guidelines.
The Government have not regarded national, regional, county or mountain boundaries as being a limiting factor in forming contiguous groups of wards, nor, within reason, have they regarded rivers or parts of the sea as being a limiting factor in forming contiguous groups of wards.
§ Lord Brabazon of Taraasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish any formula or other methodology used to aggregate the statistical indicators listed in Annex C of the Government's proposals for new Assisted Areas, published on 15 July, for the purpose of formulating these proposals. [HL3805]
§ Lord Simon of HighburyEach ward was considered individually against the criteria described in Annex C. As the document states, they were aggregated to form compact contiguous zones of over 100,000 population with the aim of combining areas of need with major areas of opportunity for employment creation, investment and regeneration.
§ Lord Brabazon of Taraasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the proposals in Annex C of the Government's proposals for new Assisted Areas, published on 15 July, were formulated taking account of local dependence on manufacturing and not on other employment sectors. [HL3806]
§ Lord Simon of HighburyThe manufacturing indicator was used both to suggest possible future labour market weakness due to the long-term decline in the national market share of employment which is expected to continue, and to indicate possible areas of opportunity where regional industrial aid could be an appropriate policy response. The employment participation rate indicator takes account of employment in all sectors.