§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment. if he will list the privatisations with which his Department has been involved since 1979, indicating in each case the date of the sale, the proceeds of the sale and the estimated current value of the company.
Mr. JacksonProfessional and Executive Recruitment (PER) was privatised in September 1988. The net proceeds of the sale were £5.1 million. It is now a privately owned company and it is not possible, nor appropriate, for my Department to estimate the current value of the company.
The other privatisation in which my Department has been involved is that of the Skills Training Agency (STA). Some of STA's property interests are still on the market so it is not yet possible to state the final proceeds of the sale.