HC Deb 31 October 2001 vol 373 cc697-701W
Mr. Hammond

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of trends in foreign direct investment in Scotland, Wales and the English regions in the last 12 months. [10986]

Nigel Griffiths

The figures are based on information provided by companies at the time of the announcement of the decision to invest in the UK. They are based on the companies' best estimate, at that time, of the number of jobs to be created/safeguarded by the investment in its first three years.

There is no requirement to notify inward investment decisions and so the figures include only those projects where Invest UK and its regional partners were involved or which have come to their notice.

On 12 July Invest UK announced at its Annual Review another record year for attracting inward investment projects into the UK. Between 1 April 2000 and 21 March 2001, Invest UK recorded 869 inward investment decisions to locate in the UK by foreign owned companies (an increase of 15 per cent. on the previous year) over the next three years.

2000–01 Scotland Wales English Region
Number of projects 72 39 639
Number of new jobs 9,274 4,520 52,812
Number of safeguarded jobs 4,231 1,833 45,318
Total of associated jobs 13,505 6,353 97,130

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 25 September showed that at the end of the second quarter of 2001 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stock in the UK had risen to £389.5 billion—up 32 per cent. compared with a year earlier.

There are signs of a decrease in the total number of new inward investment inquiries. We are monitoring the position and working hard to maximise the level of inward investment.

Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the levels of inward investment in the UK. [10652]

Nigel Griffiths

[holding answer 30 October 2001]: The figures included are based on information provided by companies at the time of the announcement of the decision to invest in the UK. They are based on the companies' best estimate, at that time, of the number of jobs to be created/safeguarded by the investment in its first three years.

There is no requirement to notify inward investment decisions and so the figures include only those projects where Invest UK and its regional partners were involved or which have come to their notice.

On 12 July Invest UK announced at its Annual Review another record year for attracting inward investment projects to the UK. Between 1 April 2000 and 21 March 2001, Invest UK recorded 869 inward investment decisions to locate in the UK by foreign owned companies (an increase of 15 per cent. on the previous year) over the next three years.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 25 September showed that at the end of the second quarter of 2001 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stock in the UK had risen to £389.5 billion—up 32 per cent. compared with a year earlier.

There are signs of a decrease in the total number of new inward investment inquiries. We are monitoring the position and working hard to maximise the level of inward investment.

Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what measures she is taking to ensure that the UK remains attractive to foreign investment; [10659]

(2) what recent steps she has taken to promote investment in the UK from abroad. [10651]

Nigel Griffiths

[holding answer 30 October 2001]: Posts overseas have intense contacts with potential inward investors. Invest UK as the Government agency that promotes the whole of the UK as the best inward investment location in Europe is working in partnership with all UK Development Agencies to maximise the level of inward investment.

The Government are encouraging all Development Agencies to build on their strengths and on existing clusters in their regions to attract further inward investment. They are also increasingly collaborating with each other, on overseas promotional activities, to increase their attractiveness to investors.

From 1 April to 31 March Number of projects Total new jobs Total safe jobs Total associated jobs
1997–98
East 34 945 17,744 18,689
East Midlands 18 1,689 758 2,444
London 63 2,948 444 3,392
North East 48 2,764 9,890 12,654
Northern Ireland 24 3,357 2,416 5,773
North West 71 4,944 7,277 12,221
Scotland 75 7,688 4,869 12,557
South East 57 5,534 7,482 13,016
Wales 55 4,976 2,479 7,455
South West 40 3,205 1,735 4,940
West Midlands 81 5,641 12,546 18,187
Yorkshire and Humber 65 2,874 15,131 18,005
Total for year 631 46,562 82,771 129,333
1998–99
East 41 1,411 2,575 3,986
East Midlands 21 2,096 1,176 3,272
London 105 4,125 1,796 5,921
North East 35 2,304 6,953 9,257
Northern Ireland 31 3,345 1,837 5,182
North West 65 3,224 9,123 12,347
Scotland 54 6,311 1,098 7,409
South East 73 4,497 13,957 18,454
UK 2 50 5,800 5,850
Wales 48 5,591 1,796 7,387
South West 34 3,008 1,417 4,425
West Midlands 71 5,478 9,323 14,801
Yorkshire and Humber 86 3,626 18,672 22,298
Total for year 666 45,066 75,523 120,589

Over the last two months Invest UK has been involved in the following events to promote the UK abroad. The signing of UK China Partnership: September Korean Hitech Forum in Bristol: 10–11 September Biotechnia Trade Fair Hanover: 9–11 October Greater Phoenix Electronics Show: 10–11 October Inward Mission from China: Week of 24 September IT Seminar Iceland: 25 October UK with New York events including business lunches: 22–26 October IT.Com Fair Bangalore, India: Week beginning 29 October. The Government are continuing to pursue economic policies which enhance the UK's attractions including developing our skills base, providing flexible labour markets and a stable economy.

Mr. Hammond

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will provide an estimate of foreign direct investment for each region of the United Kingdom for each year since 1997, and the forecast for each region for 2001. [10995]

Nigel Griffiths

The figures in the table are based on information provided by companies at the time of the announcement of the decision to invest in the UK. They are based on the companies' best estimate, at that time, of the number of jobs to be created/safeguarded by the investment in its first three years.

There is no requirement to notify inward investment decisions and so the figures include only those projects where Invest UK and its regional partners were involved or which have come to their notice.

Figures for 2001–02 are still being collected and will be available in July 2002 when Invest UK announces its annual results.

From 1 April to 31 March Number of projects Total new jobs Total safe jobs Total associated jobs
1999–2000
East 37 2,101 2,085 4,186
East Midlands 31 675 1,707 2,382
London 159 7,200 9,989 17,189
North East 49 3,479 8,431 11,910
Northern Ireland 20 2,353 1,710 4,063
North West 80 4,768 11,865 16,633
Scotland 76 10,804 3,095 13,899
South East 110 6,236 15,987 22,223
South West 47 4,814 3,263 8,077
UK 1 0 1,000 1,000
Wales 47 4,161 3,636 7,797
West Midlands 99 6,458 11,730 18,188
Yorkshire and Humber 44 1,362 7,089 8,451
Total for year 800 54,411 81,587 135,998
2000–01
East 56 3,094 7,898 10,992
East Midlands 17 2,065 2,287 4,352
London 222 8,306 2,274 10,580
North East 35 4,959 2,859 7,818
Northern Ireland 22 4,906 909 5,815
North West 39 3,187 1,610 4,797
Scotland 72 9,274 4,231 13,505
South East 191 18,190 4,547 22,737
South West 38 4,109 2,182 6,291
UK 5 0 20 20
Wales 39 4,520 1,833 6,353
West Midlands 103 4,867 20,226 25,093
Yorkshire and Humber 33 4,035 1,415 5,450
Total for year 872 71,512 52,291 123,803
Report total 2,969 217,551 292,172 509,723