§ Mr. Alan Howarthasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the progess made by the National Coal Board (Enterprise) Limited.
§ Mr. Peter Walker[pursuant to his reply, 16 June 1986, c. 391]: NCB (Enterprise) Ltd. was set up on 8 October 1984 with initial funding of £5 million to support and encourage new and expanding industries to create lasting jobs in Britain's traditional coalmining areas. On 28 November 1984 this sum was doubled to £10 million. The company's continued progress resulted in a further doubling of accountable funds to £20 million on 25 July 1985.
The company is continuing to make excellent progress and is increasing the scale of its success: up to the end of 114W June the company had committed £12.9 million towards 639 projects to create 8,228 job opportunities. A further £65 million of investment has been attracted from other sources and, in addition, the company will be spending some £3 million on building works for new enterprises and businesses. The Government are determined to ensure that this success will continue.
The company, which from 31 July will be known as British Coal (Enterprise) Ltd. aims to double the level of its activities during this financial year. This will result in much more money being needed over the coming months. I am therefore delighted to announce that a further £20 million is being made available, bringing the total funding available to the company to £40 million.