A £6.4 million "cash boost" for Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, announced by Industry & Regions Minister Jacqui Smith, turns out not to be the extra bonanza it was made out to be.

The money for schemes to benefit the region was at first seen as a reward to the agency for its success so far in making a difference to the region's economic development.

A press release from Yorkshire Forward quotes its chairman, Terry Hodgkinson, as saying: "This award reflects the hard work carried out by the agency demonstrated by the creation and safeguarding of more than 16,000 jobs and the establishment of more than 700 new businesses, which exceeded our targets and will help achieve even greater results this year."

But a spokeswoman for Yorkshire Forward later admitted that the money was part of the original £300 million allocation the agency had negotiated for the year.

Updated: 11:06 Thursday, December 02, 2004