§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effect of the closure of Rover Longbridge(a) outside the West Midlands and (b) in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [119284]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonMuch will depend on the outcome of BMW's negotiations with Alchemy or any other potential purchaser. These are ongoing. The Rover Task Force will be submitting an interim report to the Government shortly.
However, until these discussions are concluded and it becomes clearer what the full implications of the acquisition might be, it would be imprudent to draw conclusions about the effect that reduced working at Longbridge might have elsewhere in the UK.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for areas outside the West Midlands which will be affected by the closure of the Longbridge Rover plant to receive financial assistance for retraining and employment creation; and if he will make a statement. [119285]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe Government will consider this in the light of the interim report from the Rover Task Force, which will be published shortly.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what purposes the Government's aid package for employment in relation to Rover will be allocated, broken down between(a) retraining the work force, (b) grants to attract new business, (c) support for the eventual owners of Rover and (d) other purposes. [119201]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 14 April 2000]: Decisions on the allocation of the aid package will be informed by the recommendations of the Task Force. I expect to receive their interim report in the near future.