asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what aid, and under which headings, has been received from the European Community in each year since 1973 for environmental projects in each of the separate regions of the United Kingdom.
Certain projects in England under the environmental services programme receive grant-aid from the European regional development fund (ERDF) and the projects include water and sewerage, land drainage, local authority and new town industrial estates, waste disposal facilities, local authority tourist projects and inland waterways in the assisted areas.The fund started operations in 1975. The European Commission agrees in principle to pay grant on specific projects; grant payments are made as the projects are implemented. The relevant information is given in the attached table.Projects of this description in the rest of the United Kingdom are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
(a) ERDF Grant Commitment (£ million)—Environmental Services (England
| ||||||||||
Region
| ||||||||||
Year
| North
| North West
| Yorks & Humber | West Midlands
| East Midlands
| South West
| Total
| |||
| 1975 | … | … | … | 2·650 | 1·383 | 0·171 | 0·011 | 0·044 | 0·076 | 4·335 |
| 1976 | … | … | … | 4·987 | 1·545 | 0·497 | 0·003 | 0·183 | 0·273 | 7·488 |
| 1977 | … | … | … | 7·138 | 1·479 | 0·885 | — | 0·329 | 0·164 | 9·995 |
| 1978 | … | … | … | 7·891 | 1·986 | 1·993 | — | 0·179 | 0·223 | 12·272 |
| 1979 | … | … | … | 12·047 | 5·951 | 3·869 | — | — | 7·620 | 29·487 |
| TOTAL | 34·713 | 12·344 | 7·415 | 0·014 | 0·735 | 8·356 | 63·577 | |||
| (b) Payments received | |||
| No disaggregation of payments is available on a regional basis but the total figures for all the English Assisted Areas for financial years to 1978/79 are: | |||
| (£ million) | |||
| 1975/76 | … | … | — |
| 1976/77 | … | … | 7·7 |
| 1977/78 | … | … | 7·1 |
| 1978/79 | … | … | 9·8 |
| Total | 24·6 | ||