§ 52. Sir HERBERT SAMUELasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury which were the sugar-beet companies in respect to which the Treasury has been called upon to make good its guarantees under the Trade Facilities Acts to the extent of £545,000, of which £162,000 has been written off as irrecoverable; and the amount involved in each case?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Pethick-Lawrence)The irrecoverable loss was in connection with the Orchard Sugar Company, Limited, which went into liquidation on the 30th March, 1928. In accordance with the invariable practice under the Trade Facilities Acts, I regret that I cannot give details of the other cases, but I may say that the reason for the advances was the failure of a company to pay off capital as rapidly as required by its agreement. No default has taken place on interest and the Treasury is receiving interest on the sums it advanced.