HC Deb 11 November 1999 vol 337 cc720-1W
Mr. Dobbin

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much inward investment has taken place in the(a) Middleton and (b) Heywood areas since 1 May 1997. [98254]

Mr. Byers

According to the records of the North West Development Agency there have been 5 overseas companies that have invested in the areas since 1 May 1997 as followsRika International of Japan—located in Chadderton Voith Sulzer Paper Technology of Germany—located in Middleton P & M Vacuum Services Ltd of the USA—located in Heywood Digital Projection International of Canada—located in Rochdale.

There is one further USA company located in Middleton which has requested anonymity.

Caroline Flint

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the volume of inward investment in the Doncaster area for each of the last five years; and how many companies have made such investments. [98028]

Mr. Byers

[holding answer 10 November 1999]: The figures in the table are taken from information given by companies to the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber or the Regional Development Agency at the time of the announcement of a decision to invest in the UK. They are based on the best estimate of jobs created/safeguarded by an investment in its initial three years. There is no requirement on companies to notify their decision to invest and therefore these figures are not comprehensive nor do they take account of subsequent developments.

Doncaster Travel to work area
Year Number of project Number of new jobs Number of safeguarded jobs
1994–95 6 86 158
1995–96 5 102 730
1996–97 1 120 -
1997–98 4 50 260
1998–99 3 8 922