State Aid and Assisted Areas

To access the latest information on State Aid please visit the Department for Communities & Local Government| (DCLG) website.

Certain areas within EU Members States are considered in greater need than others of state support for economic development. Member States have agreed these areas with the EU and these are known as "Assisted Areas".

Assisted Area designation allows investment aid to be given to encourage businesses to start up and develop. There are different tiers of assisted area designation each qualifying for different support.

Within the East of England businesses in Assisted Areas can benefit from grants such as Selective Finance for Investment which is managed by EEDA

Current state aid rules, and assisted area designations, will run from 2007 - 2013.

The Commission has decided 42% of the EU 25 population will be eligible for regional aid: the national population coverage of Article 87(3)(c) areas in the UK should be 19.3% . The UK government will be responsible for establishing the eligible areas. Article 87(3)(c) areas are those which require further "economic development" and are disadvantaged in relation to the national average (so called 'economic development regions').

There are other criteria that will enable an area to be eligible for Article 87(3)(c), and those that might be of interest to Bedfordshire include:

NUTS II (Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire) or Nuts III (Luton/Bedfordshire CC) areas which have a minimum population of 100K and a GDP per capital less then the EU 25 avg. or which have an unemployment rate higher than 115% of the national average; regions with a minimum population of 50,000 which are undergoing major structural change or are in serious relative decline. Member states can also target areas below NUTS III level where very local disparities exist, (although aid can only be provided to SMEs here).

The EU had also indicated a new form of aid, in addition to regional investment aid, to support business start ups and the early development stages of small enterprises in Assisted Areas.

For more information on Assisted Areas please visit the Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform | (new window) website.

Assisted Areas – Bedfordshire and Luton

Tier 3 Wards

South Beds
Caddington

Luton
Bramingham
Icknield
Leagrave
Limbury
Putteridge
Sundon Park

Tier 2 Assisted Wards

Dunstable
Houghton South
Icknield
Northfields

Luton
Biscot
Challney
Crawley
Farley
High Town
Lewsey
Saints
South
Stopsley