§ Mrs. EllmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress he is making on reaching agreement with the European Commission on the inclusion of private sector property projects in the Objective 1 Programme for Merseyside. [142860]
§ Ms Beverley HughesFollowing earlier rulings on state aid by the European Commission, all projects that involve private sector developers and the use of grant to help fund developments that would otherwise not be commercially viable have come under particularly close scrutiny. To clarify the position and to help speed up consideration of individual projects, such as those coming forward for Objective One funding on Merseyside, we have asked the Commission to approve a number of national schemes which will provide models for projects of this type.
Two of these schemes are for projects which will involve state aid and would operate in the Assisted Areas. These schemes were put to the Commission in December last year. A positive response from the Commission is expected shortly.