§ 8. Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Industry how many staff in his Department are engaged in monitoring the activities of British Leyland.
§ Mr. ButcherSome eight officials in my Department, including accountants on secondment to the Department, are regularly involved for some of their time in monitoring the activities of BL.
§ Mr. DalyellWhat lessons has the Department of Industry learnt from the sale and subsequent cannibalisation of the tractor line at Bathgate, on which the Public Accounts Committee has reported?
§ Mr. ButcherOne of the major lessons that we have learnt concerns the vigour with which the hon. Gentleman pursues his constituents' interests. I thank him for having had the courtesy to see the permanent secretary at the Department and my hon. Friend the Minister on this subject. In due course we intend to respond to the Public Accounts Committee on several of the issues, including some of the questions that the hon. Gentleman has raised. However, I am sure that he will understand that it would be a discourtesy to the PAC if I were to trail or anticipate that response.
§ Mr. StokesDoes my hon. Friend agree that it would be better to appoint an outstanding leader for the whole of British Leyland, in the way that General Montgomery was appointed to the Eighth Army 40 years ago, than to have officials in the Department spending many hours monitoring its activities?
§ Mr. ButcherI know that my hon. Friend is an advocate of leading from the front. I have already assured the House that I believe that we have the right man and men for that job.
§ Mr. Ioan EvansDoes the Minister deny press reports that parts of British Leyland, such as Jaguar and Unipart, are to be sold?
§ Mr. ButcherWe have yet to see BL's corporate plan, but at the current state of the art there are no formal proposals to sell parts of BL.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithCommercial judgments must be paramount, but will my hon. Friend do everything possible to encourage the new management to buy British car components?
§ Mr. ButcherMy hon. Friend has raised an interesting point. We all recall the days when British Leyland asked for large sums of taxpayers' money, partly on the basis that BL had an important role to play in succouring British component manufacturers. We do not say that BL should buy British merely for the sake of it, but, when making decisions on sourcing, it should remember much of its previous argument, which strengthened the Government's resolve to give it financial support.