§ Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the criteria for drawing up the areas and boundaries for Assisted Area Status and Objective 2 Status; and whether the use of (a) travel to work areas; and (b) ward boundaries; is likely to ensure that the assistance is more closely targeted to areas of high unemployment. [HL1573]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Simon of Highbury)No final decisions have been made on the criteria to be used in designating the new Assisted Areas map. The European Commission guidelines on regional aid will mean a reduction in coverage from present levels. The Government's aim is to target those areas where regional industrial assistance is both needed and an effective policy response. Using wards would be a way of enabling us to achieve this aim, and is under active consideration.
For Objective 2, the criteria in the regulations are unlikely to apply to UK areas because eligibility will be determined under the safety net which restricts loss of existing Objective 2 and 5b coverage to one-third. Member states may have some flexibility in the use of indicators to determine areas at NUTs III level and possibly below but these will have to be agreed with the Commission.