§ Mr. David Howellasked the Secretary of State for Industry, pursuant to the Minister of State's announcement in the House of Commons on 1st March, if he will state for what purpose the £5 million assistance being provided to Scott Lithgow is being used; and whether it is Government policy to encourage the company to offer a lower price to the buyers by virtue of this assistance.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldAs my hon. Friend the Minister of State announced in his Written Answer on 1st March, the assistance being provided to Scott Lithgow is to enable the company to complete a ship on which a considerable amount of work has already been done. The Government's intentions in providing assistance from the intervention fund were announced to the House in the statement by my hon. Friend on 24th February.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the £5 million to be used by the Government to help finance the construction by Scott Lithgow of a tanker, the order for which was cancelled by Maritime Fruit, is to come out of the £65 million recently announced by the Government as available as aid for shipbuilding.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldYes.
§ Mr. David Howellasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the £5 million of assistance to Scott Lithgow announced in the House of Commons on 1st March has now been carried out; whether the assessment of social costs and benefits described in paragraphs 18 of the "Criteria for Assistance to 62W Industry" of the Industry Act 1972 was made before the assistance was provided; and what are his estimates of the cost per job saved by this financial assistance.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldThe first tranche of the £5 million assistance has now been paid. The factors covered by paragraph 18 of the "Criteria for Assistance to Industry" of the Industry Act 1972 Annual Report for 1976 were fully assessed before the assistance was offered.
The completion of the ship will employ between 2,000 and 3,000 men over the next two years.