§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he has taken to recover money paid by the Exchequer to pension funds of companies connected with the late Robert Maxwell; and what assessment he has made of whether the assets of those companies have been utilised so as to yield the maximum return to those pension funds and other creditors. [104672]
§ Mr. RookerThe Department regularly reviews the ability of the Maxwell pension scheme trustees to repay the £ 2.5 million emergency funding made available in 1992. Emergency funding is only repayable once the position of all members of the pension scheme concerned has been secured and other scheme liabilities met. To date £223,660 has been repaid. We would expect further substantial repayments of emergency funding to be made in the course of the current calendar year. The realisation of assets in Maxwell companies that have gone into liquidation is a matter for the insolvency practitioners concerned.