§ 83 and 84. Mr. Ernest Daviesasked the Minister of Transport (1) what is the total amount of British Transport stock which he has consented to be issued in accordance with Section 89 (c) of the Transport Act, 1947, in connection with the acquisition of the balance of the road passenger assets of Scottish Motor Traction; and how this amount compares with the amount that would have had to be issued had compensation been assessed in acordance with Part IV of the Act;
(2) what is the number of years' purchase of the average net annual profit of the last three financial years of Scottish Motor Traction, as defined in Schedule 9 of the Transport Act, 1947, represented by the amount of Transport stock to the issue of which he has consented in connection with the acquisition of Scottish Motor Traction by the British Transport Commission.
§ Mr. BarnesThe arrangement made between the British Transport Commission and Scottish Motor Traction is subject to the consent of the stockholders and, so far as relates to the issue of British Transport stock, to my approval, which I shall be prepared to give in due course. The nominal amount of stock will be approximately £11,300,000, of which £8,400,000 will be issued to the Scottish Motor Traction Company and £2,900,000 to the minority shareholders in subsidiary companies.
I am informed by the British Transport Commission that the settlement was reached on the following basis: valuations of the heritable properties, vehicles and other physical assets were made by surveyors and engineers representing the two parties, and followed closely the basis of valuation laid down in the Transport Act, 1947. A prolonged investigation into the profits of the companies was made by chartered accountants acting for the Commission in association with the auditors of the various companies concerned. In the 15W result a compromise figure was reached, which cannot be expressed as an agreed sum multiplied by an agreed number of years' purchase, but the Commission assure me that in this matter they had full regard to the provisions of the Act and are satisfied that their settlement was within those provisions and no more than they would have found it necessary to concede at arbitration.
I may point out that in this case the purchase of shares was involved. The Commission thus acquired as part of the settlement the net current assets of the transferred undertakings which would be excluded under any compulsory acquisition under the part of the Act to which my hon. Friend refers.