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Welsh Office

Answer

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the total sums received as a result of assisted area status for (i) the former area of Alyn and Deeside District Council, (ii) the former Clwyd County Council and (iii) the current Flintshire County Council since the status was conferred; and if he will make a statement. [78955] Mr. Hain: The Assisted Area is designated for the purpose of allocating aid to industry. The beneficiaries of that aid are companies seeking financial assistance toward investment projects which will create or safeguard employment in that area. All, or parts, of these authorities have been included in the Assisted Area since 1972. In that time a wide range of assistance, including grant aid, has been provided to companies by the Welsh Office, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Welsh Development Agency, the Development Board for Rural Wales, the Wales Tourist Board, the Training and Enterprise Councils, local authorities and other business development organisations. Information on all of these is not held centrally. Grants offered since 1984 under Regional Selective Assistance (the main form of regional aid in Wales), the revised Regional Development Grant and Regional Enterprise Grant were as follows: £ million _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Former District of Alyn and Former County of Clwyd {1} Flintshire {2} Deeside {1} Regional Selective Assistance 40.2 129.2 12.9 Regional Enterprise Grants{3} 1.9 6.0 0.4 Regional Development Grants{4} 43.4 119.4 -- _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Information up to 31 March 1996 {2} Information since 1 April 1996 {3} Regional Enterprise Grant scheme began 1 April 1988 {4} Regional Development Grant scheme began 29 November 1984, closed 31 March 1988 Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

78955; 328 c721-3W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Grants Regional assistance Regional selective assistance Assisted areas Clwyd Flintshire Regional development grants Regional enterprise grants Alyn and Deeside

Contains statistics

Yes