§ Mr. Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what assessment he has made of the requirements for match public funds from his Department for the EU Objective 1 regions of(a) Cornwall and Scilly, (b) Merseyside and (c) South Yorkshire for each of the seven years of the programme. [104301]
(2) what level of match public funds from his Department are available to EU Objective 1 regions for each of the next seven calendar years. [104305]
§ Ms Beverley HughesMy Department will provide significant financial support for all three Objective 1 programmes through a number of funding mechanisms. These include the Single Regeneration Budget and New Deal for Communities, as well as mainstream funding made available to local authorities. Local partnerships can prioritise the use of these resources to fund projects jointly with the Structural Funds, thereby boosting their impact.
6WIt is too early to estimate how much my Department's contribution is likely to be over the 2000–06 programme period. This will depend on the types of projects which local partnerships select for support over the programming period.