§ Mr. Thorntonasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the amount of Treasury funds already paid, to date, for the scrapping of machinery under the terms of the Cotton Industry Act, 1959; and what is his latest estimate of the total cost to the Treasury for the scrapping of machinery under this Act.
§ Mr. Maudling:£8. 9 million was paid from public funds up to 3rd February.
I cannot yet make a more accurate estimate of the total cost than that given in my reply to the hon. Member on the 30th November last, namely, between £12 million and £13 million.
§ Mr. Thorntonasked the President of the Board of Trade what will be the cost to Treasury funds of applications for re-equipment grants under the terms of the Cotton Industry Act, 1959, already received, assuming they are all fully accepted, and covering the first half of the period allowed for the submission of applications.
§ Mr. Maudling:About £5.5 million, excluding the small number of applications rejected.