Catalogue description Board of Trade and successors: Investment Grants Division and Regional Development Grants Division: Registered Files (IG (P, G and R suffix) Series)

Its purpose was to encourage capital investment in manufacturing industry and a scheme of incentives was proposed by the Government in October 1965. The plan was to remove investment allowances under the taxation regime and replace it with cash grants at 20% with a supplement for the enlarged development areas. In spite of considerable problems regarding the effectiveness of the scheme, it was announced in the January 1966 White Paper, Investment Incentives (Cmnd 2874, 1966). At this point it was decided that the legislation and subsequent responsibility for the scheme would fall mainly on the Board of Trade. The Industrial Development Act 1966 was passed in August and by January 1967 the Board of Trade were ready to deal with claims back dated to 1 January 1966. General Division took the work initially. Investment Grant Offices opened in five locations in the period December 1966 to January 1967. The Investment Grant Division was set up in the Board of Trade in 1968. It continued the work of administering Part 1 of the Industrial Development Act 1966 which had begun in General Division. Cash grants were made available for qualifying new machinery and plant in qualifying processes. The industries included manufacturing, extraction, construction, mining works, shipbuilding, hovercraft and computers used in a qualifying process.

On 23 October 1969 responsibility for investment grants passed from the Board of Trade to the Ministry of Technology, and on 20 October 1970 to the Department of Trade and Industry. Although there were staff changes in the HQ Divisions the vast majority of the staff remained the same in the five Investment Grant Offices at Billingham, Bootle, Glasgow, Cardiff and Southend-on-Sea.

A new administration, which took office in June 1970, announced on 27 October 1970 the abolition of investment grants on expenditure incurred on or after that date. This policy was put into effect by the Investment and Building Grants Act 1971, which nevertheless allowed for the payment of grants on expenditure incurred by a contract entered into, up to and including 26 October 1970.

The winding up of the scheme begun under the Department of Trade and Industry, continued from 1974 under the Department of Industry. The work went on until claims arising from pre 27 October 1970 contracts had been completed.

Because of the grant termination cut off date of 26 October 1970 many claimants had to set out to prove that there was a contract in force on that date. Consequently many difficult cases arose in the early 1970s, especially where the evidence of a contract was in some doubt, or where a verbal contract was claimed.

Other policy decisions were tackled in the period 1966-1970 but the complexity of commercial transactions led to prolonged discussions, and policy problems were still alive in the mid 1970s. Efforts were made to keep policy changes to a minimum after the scheme end. The varying periods of conditions to qualify for retention of grant ranged from 3-5 years, and this extended the time period of the scheme administration.

With the introduction of selective Regional Development Grants in 1972 in assisted areas, the Investment Grants Division changed to Regional Development Grants Division. This Division dealt with the remaining investment grant work, and took on the new work which had many similar features. Of the five offices, Southend closed first, and finally the residual work was concentrated at the Billingham office.