Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions the Board of Trade Advisory Committee met in 1965.
§ Mr. JayThe Board of Trade Advisory Committee met twelve times during 1965 in full committee. In addition, applications for building grants were considered by sub-committees throughout the year.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade for how many hours the Board of Trade Advisory Committee met in 1965.
§ Mr. JayThe Board of Trade Advisory Committee met for a total of approximately 100 hours in full committee during 1965. It is not possible to estimate how much additional time that members spent in sub-committee or in examining cases.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade how many applica- 324W tions were considered by the Board of Trade Advisory Committee in 1965.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade how many applications were refused by the Board of Trade Advisory Committee in 1965.
§ Mr. JayOn the recommendation of the Board of Trade Advisory Committee the Board refused applications in respect of 90 projects.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many applications are now awaiting consideration by the Board of Trade Advisory Committee; and how long they have been waiting;
(2) how many applications dealt with by the Board of Tade Advisory Committee, in each of the last two years, were under consideration by that committee for less than six months and how many for more than six months.
§ Mr. JayApplications in respect of 914 projects referred to the Advisory Committee are awaiting their consideration. It would involve a disproportionate amount of time to compile the other details sought in the Questions.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Tade what opportunities are given to firms to answer the Board of Trade Advisory Committee's reasons for refusing applications.
§ Mr. JayThe Committee does not give reasons for its decisions; but the Secretariat gives every assistance to applicants on matters on which the Committee needs to be satisfied before recommending assistance.
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade what has been the annual cost of the Board of Trade Advisory Committee in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. JayThe allowances paid to members of the Advisory Committee in each of the last five years were:
325W
£ 1961–62 … … 2,447 1962–63 … … 1,944 1963–64 … … 3,004 1964–65 … … 2,688 1965–66 … … 2,772
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade how many staff there are in his Department; and in what ways the qualifications of the members of the Board of Trade Advisory Committee differ from those available within his Department's staff.
§ Mr. Jay17,683 at 1st October, 1966, in the Board of Trade and Export Credit Guarantee Department. As I informed my hon. Friend on 13th July last, the members of the Committee, who are appointed by the Board under Section 3 of the Local Employment Act, 1960, are persons with a wide range of practical business, industrial and trade union experience, and are able to give independent advice on the matters referred to them under the Local Employment Acts.—[Vol. 731, c.224.]
Mr. Alan Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many of the applications refused by the Board of Trade Advisory Committee in the last five years related to factories for Wales;
(2) how many jobs the applicants estimated would be provided in factories in Wales for which the Board of Trade Advisory Committee refused permission in the last five years.
§ Mr. JayOn the recommendation of the Board of Trade Advisory Committee the Board rejected applications for financial assistance in respect of 39 projects in Wales in the five years ended 30th November, 1966. The applicants estimated that these projects would provide some 1,700 jobs.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the President of the Board of Trade what sums have been 326W disbursed in Great Britain as a whole on the advice of the Board of Trade Advisory Committee during the last three financial years and in the financial year to date in the form of building grants and loans; how many applications were involved; what were the figures for Scottish projects during the same periods; and how many of these applications for Scottish projects, involving what sums, were for new projects not at the time of application already in production or established as an operating unit or not from a firm already actively engaged in similar projects in other areas.
§ Mr. JayFormal offers of such assistance made by my Department under the Local Employment Acts on the advice of the Board of Trade Advisory Committee were as follows:
Loans Building Grants Value (£ million) Number of applications Value (£ million) Number of applications 1963–64 Great Britain 19 109 3 152 Scotland 10 60 1 67 1964–65 Great Britain 10 123 10 639 Scotland 4 62 3 281 1965–66 Great Britain 10 129 14 946 Scotland 5 60 6 420 1st April–31st October, 1966 Great Britain 9 71 12 686 Scotland 4 24 5 346 Note: For a number of projects applications were made for both loans and building grants.
To obtain the rest of the information requested would involve a disproportionate amount of time and money.