asked the Secretary of State for Industry how much money has been paid in the form of regional development grants in (a) Scotland, and (b) Dundee since 1974; and what was the total number of firms involved in both cases.

Between 1 April 1974 and 30 June 1980, nearly £568 million of regional development grant was paid in Scotland. I regret that similar information is not available for Dundee.The total of grant payments over £25,000 in the Dundee travel-to-work area between 1 October 1974 (the earliest date from which information is available) and 30 June 1980 was about £4.8 million. Such payments are estimated to account for about 60 per cent. of all grant payments.I regret that information about the number of firms receiving grant is not available.