§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the amount and reasons for unauthorised payments by the Export Credits Guarantee Department.
§ Mr. NeedhamI refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Tiverton (Mrs. Browning) on 2 February at column772.
The payments made to exporters were irregular because, although they were made on what was considered to be an appropriate basis for sharing recoveries, they were in excess of what we are now advised is the exporters' strict entitlement under the terms of the guarantee, and because no Treasury approval had been obtained for making what were therefore in effect ex-gratia payments.