§ 31. Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the cost to public funds of subsidies to the nationalised industries to compensate them for price restraint in the current financial year; and how this figure compares with that for the last financial year.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinFollowing are shown details of assistance already announced. Further amounts for the current financial year are being discussed with several of the boards.
The financial assistance already announced takes account of factors other than price restraint:
- (a) The Transport (Grants) Act, 1972, authorised the payment in 1972 of grants of £27 million to the British Railways Board and £7 million to the National Bus Company. Further assistance for the British Railways Board was announced by the Minister for Transport Industries on 27th July.
- (b) As announced by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 6th March, £100 million was paid to the National Coal Board to keep its accumulated deficit at the end of 1971–72 below its statutory limit.
- (c) Under the Iron and Steel Act, 1972, £200 million of public dividend capital was transferred to the reserve of the British Steel Corporation. As announced by the Ministry for Industry on 9th August, an additional £150 million of debt was transferred to the Corporation's reserve with effect from 15th September, 1972. This reserve is being used to write off the Corporation's accumulated deficit at 31st March, 1972, and any deficit it incurs in the current year will be written off against this reserve.—[Vol. 840, c. 2068–9; Vol. 832, c. 1032–3; Vol. 842, c. 467–8.]