HC Deb 25 November 1986 vol 106 cc229-31

Queen's Recommendation having been signified—

Resolved, That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Coal Industry Bill, it is expedient to authorise the payment to the British Coal Corporation out of moneys provided by Parliament of—

  1. (1) grants (not exceeding in aggregate £100 million or such greater sum not exceeding £200 million as may be specified in a relevant order) with a view to reducing or eliminating any deficit shown in a statutory consolidated profit and loss account of the Corporation and its subsidiaries for the financial years of the Corporation ending in March 1988 and 1989;
  2. (2) grants (not exceeding in aggregate £300 million or such greater sum not exceeding £750 million as may be specified in a relevant order) towards any expenditure of the Corporation or their subsidiaries which—
    1. (a) relates to costs falling to be charged to such a profit and loss account for a financial year of the Corporation ending not earlier than March 1988 or later than March 1992 in which the Corporation are redeploying and 231 reducing the number of their employees with a view to adjusting the future supply of coal or reducing production costs;
    2. (b) is a kind specified in relation to such a year in a relevant order; and
    3. (c) does not exceed the costs falling to be so charged or such larger amounts as the Secretary of State and the Corporation may with the approval of the Treasury agree;
    being grants which comply with any restrictions on the amount which may be paid in respect of any such year imposed by a relevant order made in respect of that year;
  3. (3) grants towards any relavant expenditure of the Corporation (within the meaning of section 6 of the Coal Industry Act 1977) in a financial year of the Corporation ending after March 1987 which—
    1. (a) relates to costs falling to be charged to such a profit and loss account in respect of any period specified in section 6(3) of that Act or to obligations undertaken by the Corporation in any such period; and
    2. (b) does not exceed the amount of the costs to which it relates or such larger amount as the Secretary of State and the Corporation may with the approval of the Treasury agree;
    being grants limited to one half of the expenditure in that year which would be eligible for such grants apart from that limitation;
and in this Resolution— 'a statutory consolidated profit and loss account' means a consolidated profit and loss account prepared in accordance with a direction given under section 8(1) of the Coal Industry Act 1971: and 'a relevant order' means an order made by the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury and approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.—[Mr. Boscawen.]