§ Mr. Bruce GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding has been made available to the Borough of Walsall by his Department since June 1997. [160996]
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§ Mr. CabornSince June 1997, up to the present date, the following offers of assistance have been made to businesses in the local authority district of Walsall.
36 offers of Regional Selective Assistance totalling £2,474,000 have been made. These offers have been made towards projects with total capital investment of £17,570,360 which will create 561 jobs.
Nine offers of Enterprise Grant have been made since the scheme was launched in March 2000. These offers involve grant of £269,000 and fixed capital investment of £2,087,070.
Eight offers were made under the SMART (innovation) scheme. The total amount of assistance offered was £345,554, towards company projects with total investment of £683,165.
Businesses have also been able to benefit from assistance from the Training and Enterprise Council, Business Link and a range of other DTI schemes to encourage innovation and best practice, including TCS (formerly Teaching Company Scheme).