§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the Northern Ireland Social Fund discretionary budget will be for 1999–2000. [79992]
§ Mr. McFallI am pleased to announce that the Social Fund gross discretionary budget for 1999–2000 will be £42.82 million. £9.86 million will be allocated to grants; £32.86 million to loans and £0.1 million will be held as a contingency reserve. The new allocations represent an increase of £2.27 million over the gross budget set at April 1998.
This increase in the Social Fund budget will ensure that more people receive help and that the Fund continues to play an important role in targeting resources to those most in need. Details of the individual District budget allocations, together with a note explaining the basis on which they have been made, have been placed in the Library today.