§ Mrs. McCurleyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a further statement on the joint financial target set for the South of Scotland Electricity Board and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electricity Board.
§ Mr. YoungerThe requirements in the new accounts direction that I have recently issued to the South of Scotland Electricity Board will result in the board's accounts being presented in a different manner from that on which I set the Scottish electricity boards' joint financial target. I have therefore revised the joint financial target to take account of the changes so as to ensure that the target is consistent with the basis on which the accounts are to be presented.
On the basis of the revised forms of accounts, the joint financial target for the two Scottish electricity boards, which I announced to the House on 26 July 1983, at column 406, is equivalent to the boards' current cost operating profits yielding an average return of 1.75 per cent. over the period 1 April 1983 to 31 March 1986 on the average net assets employed at current cost in each of those years.