§ 37. Mr. Luceasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether she anticipates any further sums of public money will be required to be made available to the Crown Agents in the light of their losses on own account activities.
§ Mrs. HartThe deficit remaining after the £90 million grant which we propose to make this financial year relates almost entirely to the Crown Agents' Australian property holdings. Whether further sums will be required will not be known until the financial results of the Crown Agents' disengagement from those investments are clear.
§ Mr. LuceIf the Government decide to provide further taxpayers' money for the Crown Agents, will the right hon. Lady make it clear that on the next occasion she will make the announcement in the form of a statement rather than by way of a Written Answer to a Question, so that the House may have an opportunity to put questions to her? Since the Government intend to make the Crown Agents fully accountable to Parliament, when do they intend to legislate on this matter?
§ Mrs. HartOn that second question, as soon as we can. As the hon. Gentleman will know, there are great difficulties at present pressing upon parliamentary legislation. But it will be done as soon as possible.
As for the hon. Gentleman's first question, I am sure that in consultation with my colleagues I can give that assurance. There were difficulties on the last occasion. There were pressures on parliamentary time and there was the need to inform the House before final publication of the public expenditure White Paper. 970 As I said in my Written Answer, there were no new factors arising. It was essentially a question of being able to make more money available.
§ Mr. SkinnerWill my right hon. Friend confirm that the dabbling in English and Continental was among the reasons for some of the losses in the Crown Agents affair? Does she accept that there is an urgent need for an investigation into the sale of English and Continental, which, according to some peeple, was the result of the involvement of Osgoodby, one of the Crown Agents? Did my right hon. Friend and the Treasury give a seal of approval to the transfer of English and Continental?
§ Mrs. HartOn that first point, certainly English and Continental, with all the other investments in property and secondary banking during the period up of 1974, was the major contributory cause to the Crown Agents' losses. On the two specific matters which my hon. Friend raised, I cannot give a clear answer at the moment though I am prepared to look into them. But I am sure my hon. Friend recognises that I can take responsibility only for the period before 1970 and after 1974, with a certain interval since then.