§ Mr. CarmichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the operation of EU state aid rules on the encouragement of national flag shipping and seafarer employment. [43594]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Government have made an assessment which will shortly be submitted to the European Commission as part of their consultation on revising the state aid guidelines.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on how EC state aid can be released to benefit regeneration initiatives in renewal areas. [43488]
§ Ms KeebleNearly £130 million of European funding has this week been awarded to large scale regeneration projects in the West Midlands with a further £33 million earmarked for projects in Staffordshire and the north Black Country, once proposals can be worked up.
Regeneration projects—drawn up by local authorities, Advantage West Midlands and various local partners—have been clustered together into "packages", to ensure a co-ordinated, strategic approach to the regeneration of the West Midlands.
Two of the packages—for the north Black Country/south Staffordshire and for north Staffordshire—have had £16.5 million and £16.9 million earmarked for them respectively, while RDA Advantage West Midlands and consultants working on behalf of GOWM help the partnerships get the proposals into final shape.
Additionally, some £30 million of European funding has been approved outside the regeneration packages. This is currently under offer to enable projects to get under way.