§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding for April 2001 to March 2002 is unallocated by Advantage West Midlands; and if he will make a statement on the single regeneration budget. [157115]
§ Mr. CabornThe information requested is as follows
Funding during the 2001–02 financial yearAdvantage West Midlands' total programme budget for the 2001–02 financial year is £148,135,000 gross. In addition, in its Corporate Plan it has identified £10,823,000 committed expenditure from the last financial year which will be transferred into the 2001–02 financial year. The Corporate Plan identifies £143,665,000 expenditure already committed and sets out the Agency's plans for using the uncommitted funding in support of the Regional Strategy.
Single Regeneration BudgetIn the Spending Review 2000, RDAs were given considerable additional funding and flexibilities to deliver their regional strategies, whose primary purpose is to enhance the region's competitiveness through sustainable economic development, regeneration and business growth. A key flexibility is the introduction of a single budget from April 2002, which will subsume all current RDA funding streams. There will not, therefore, be a national SRB bidding round for new schemes in 2001–02.
Those RDAs with sufficient resources, after commitments from earlier SRB rounds are taken into account, have been invited to put forward proposals for using funds from their SRB expenditure line in their Corporate Plans for 2001–02. Each RDA will be able to decide on its own approach, which will contribute to the development of the RDAs' regional Strategies.
424WRDAs will be expected to meet their commitments to schemes from SRB Rounds 1–6 from their single budget.