asked the Secretary of State for Industry what steps he is taking to reduce the delay in paying regional development grants; and if he will take steps to pay interest to claimants in cases where payment is unreasonably delayed.

Over the life of the regional development grant scheme the average time taken to process applications has been 13 weeks. The average time taken at present has been 15 weeks and I do not regard this situation as requiring special measures, particularly as the position is kept under constant review. If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind, I would be happy to investigate it.Payment of interest would not be appropriate because more public expenditure would be involved and because payments of grant are discretionary and it is not possible to define a date when they fall due. General rules describing "unreasonable delay" would not therefore be appropriate.