§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Industry, since Lucas Ltd is currently receiving £8 million from his Department to preserve jobs, what action he is taking to prevent the company from closing its Shipley plant and its ballscrew operations at Hemel Hempstead; and whether this contravenes the agreement Lucas made with his Department on 14 February over job preservation.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallIn June 1978, my Department agreed to grant Lucas410W Aerospace assistance of £8 million to enable the company to carry out a rationalisation programme. This programme included closure of plants at Shipley, Bradford and Liverpool and opening of new plants at Bradford and Liverpool. No action is being taken to prevent these closures and Lucas Aerospace has undertaken to relocate as many of the work force as possible. Lucas Aerospace made a commercial decision to cease manufacturing industrial ballscrews in 1975, and this decision was not connected with the grant of assistance mentioned above.