§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding her Department has provided to the Industry Forum Adaptation scheme since its inception; and what time scale applies to this funding. [145487]
§ Ms HewittMy Department undertook to support an initial two-year Industry Forum Adaptation (IFA) programme comprising a number of separate sectorally-focused projects. An initial tranche of £15 million funding was agreed in July 1999. This allocation was fully committed by March 2002. Following a high degree of demand from sectors, I announced a further 781W £20 million (£11 million devoted to IFA) at the Manufacturing Summit in December 2001. Funding support the majority of IFA projects is over three to five years on a tapering basis. Contractual spending commitments under IFA extend to financial year 2007–08.