§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any specific projects are earmarked for recognition by the Objective 1 status monies allocated to South Yorkshire; and what is the reason for the delay in payments. [HL994]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)The South Yorkshire Objective 1 Single Programme Document was received by the European Commission on 17 November 1999. Under the Regulations, the Commission has five months to approve the programme. It is expected that the South Yorkshire programme will be approved in principle at the end of March. Until it is approved, no projects can be submitted. However, South Yorkshire partners are making preparations to ensure that projects can come forward as soon as the programme is fully operational.