asked the Secretary of State for industry whether he has now put to the European Commission proposals for the co-ordination of United Kingdom applications for ECSC housing loans covering coal miners as well as steel workers; and whether he will give details of the applications submitted.

Information of this kind about the commencement or expansion of companies is not available, neither is it possible to specify the number of jobs created in the United Kingdom as a whole, or in any individual region, as a result of our membership of the EEC. Expansions occur for a wide variety of reasons, and many take place without reference to Government.Some idea of the extent of development in the Northern Region and in Yorkshire and Humberside relative to that elsewhere in the assisted areas is, however, provided by the number of offers of selective financial assistance under the Industry Act 1972, to new projects or expansions, between 1st January 1973 and 31st March 1975:only in non-development areas—issued over the same period is also relevant:

Yes. The Commission is now assessing the specific United Kingdom schemes for housing assistance submitted for the 1975–76 programme, in consultation with responsible Government Departments, the industries, trade unions and local authorities. To date, eleven schemes which could qualify for low interest loans have been proposed by the National Coal Board, the British Steel Corporation, a private steel company, and four local authorities.