§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Rochford (Dr. Clark), on 18 March,Official Report, column 20, if he will make a statement concerning the details of the settlement of the outstanding claim made by Trafalgar House against British Shipbuilders.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 March 1991]: The settlement was in respect of an action brought by Trafalgar House for which British Shipbuilders have not admitted liability. The claim was for alleged losses of £191 million plus interest from 1984 due to alleged misrepresentations by British Shipbuilders following the privatisation of the Scott Lithgow yard.
The legal costs for each side were likely to run into tens of millions of pounds had the action come to court.
The £17 million cash settlement, plus the forgoing by British Shipbuilders of a counterclaim for £8 million from Trafalgar House, therefore represents a considerable potential saving for the public purse.