§ Mr. Francis Noel-Bakerasked the Minister of Transport what directions he has given to the Transport Holding Company to extend the nationalised sector of the road haulage industry; what extensions have taken place since October last; and what further extensions are planned.
§ Mr. Tom FraserOn the first part of this Question I would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer I gave to the hon. Members for Worcester (Mr. Peter Walker) and Norfolk, Central (Mr. Ian Gilmour) on 20th January.
251WWith regard to the extensions which have taken place, in addition to the current offer to move to acquire a 75 per cent. interest in Tayforth Ltd., at a cost of around £5 million, about a dozen undertakings, or interests therein, have been, or are in the process of being, acquired by B.R.S. companies since October last at a further cost of around £2 million. All these acquisitions come within the framework of policy which I indicated to the House in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle on 17th May.
It would be contrary to the interests of the Company to say what further extensions are planned.