§ Mr. AustinTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants, loans and other payments were made by Her Majesty's Government, and what loans were underwritten by the ECGD, to Balfour Beatty in each of the last five years. [128570]
§ Mr. CabornFrom records readily available the following Balfour Beatty business has been the subject of guarantees underwritten by ECGD in each of the last five years:
Year Number of Balfour Beatty contracts supported by ECGD Value of ECGD cover £ Million 1995–96 6 62.3 1996–97 8 75.5 1997–98 2 33.7 1998–99 3 15.2 1999–2000 0 0 Most cover ECGD has underwritten will have been given to UK banks who extended loans to overseas borrowers to enable them to pay for capital goods and services over an extended payment period. However, some insurance cover has been issued directly to Balfour Beatty.
207WDFID advises that payments under the Aid and Trade Provision on development projects for which Balfour Beatty was the main contractor, amounted in each of the last five years to the following:
£ million Project 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 China Guangzhou Metro Catenary — 1.419 1.259 — 0.299 Peru Mini Hydros 0.044 0.002 — — — Thailand Mini Hydro 0.218 0.957 1.098 0.304 0.150 Payments to Balfour Beatty under the DTI's Overseas Project Fund (now managed by Trade Partners UK), amounted to £459,875 in the last five years.
Project £ million Vietnam Ton Son Nhat Airport 0.2 Taiwan High Speed Rail Link 0.259