Regional Growth Fund
Debate between Linda Riordan and Eric Ollerenshaw(13 years, 1 month ago)
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Eric Ollerenshaw
I am sorry; I must finish. I have only got a couple of minutes. Perhaps the hon. Gentlemen can intervene on other hon. Members.
Opposition Members talked about instructions from Whitehall, but I think, as a member of an RDA board, we got new instructions every month from Whitehall about where the money should go and on what it should be spent. There was no real discussion with straightforward business about what it wanted to do. I hope that what is happening now is the beginning of that approach.
I want to finish with certain questions to Ministers, as other hon. Members have done. We see what we are doing as a beginning. There is a huge north-south divide, and the Government seem to be learning while they are doing; but we have questions about where we go from here with growth funds, and in continuing to deal with the north-south divide, which has got worse in the past 13 years.
Mrs Linda Riordan (in the Chair)
I will call the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) next, but perhaps he will keep his comments short, because I intend to call the shadow Minister at 12.10.