§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral statement of 14 July 1998,Official Report, column 191, if he will list the subsidies that he has assessed as no longer justifiable together with the most recent estimate of their cost in the last year. [51509]
§ Mr. ByersThe Government are reviewing the system of industrial subsidies across Departments to ensure that the taxpayer gets value for money. The largest specific industrial subsidy is support to the agricultural industry which totalled £4.5bn in 1997–98. The Government also played a leading role in negotiating the phased abolition of shipbuilding operating subsidies across Europe by the end of the year 2000: these subsidies cost the UK £10m in the last financial year.