§ Sir C. Osborneasked the Minister of Transport how much has been invested in British Railways; how much it has received further in loans and bank guarantees; what profits and/or losses have been made since nationalisation; and how much has been paid in taxation from profits from this industry.
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§ Mrs. CastleThe figures for investment and profits and losses are given below. On vesting date, 1st January, 1963, the British Railways Board assumed a debt of £1,562 million to the Minister of Transport on the transfer to the Board of part of the property, rights and liabilities of the British Transport Commission. Since vesting date the Minister has lent to the Board £50 million. The Treasury at present guarantee the Board's temporary borrowing from bankers up to a maximum of £25 million. The only unrecovered tax payment is one of £619,000 payable in respect of 1965–66 by certain subsidiaries of the Railways Board.
BRITISH RAILWAYS (UNDER THE BRITISH TRANSPORT COMMISSION) Investment Expenditure (a) Net surplus or deficit on revenue account (b) £m. £m. 1948 … … 38 8.2 (deficit) 1949 … … 41 23.4 (deficit) 1950 … … 41 10.8 (deficit) 1951 … … 45 0.7 (deficit) 1952 … … 39 3.7 (surplus) 1953 … … 53 2.4 (deficit) 1954 … … 65.0 21.6 (deficit) 1955 … … 70.9 38.2 (deficit) 1956 … … 88.4 57.5 (deficit) 1957 … … 125.6 68.1 (deficit) 1958 … … 140.7 90.1 (deficit) 1959 … … 167.6 84.0 (deficit) 1960 … … 162.8 112.7 (deficit) 1961 … … 145.9 135.9 (deficit) 1962. … … 115.3 159.0 (deficit)
BRITISH RAILWAYS BOARD investment Expenditure on British Railways (a) £m. British Railways Board's results on revenue account (c) £m. 1963 … … 90.8 133.9 (deficit) 1964 … … 101.1 120.9 (deficit) 1965 … … 113.9 132.4 (deficit) Notes
(a) Excludes investment in ancillary activities, i.e. railway ships, ports, hotels and other services.
(b) After central charges (mainly interest charges) but excluding interest charged to the special account in the years 1956 to 1962 (totally £158.1m. for the seven years).
(c) Because of the changes brought about by the Transport Act 1962 and the adoption by the British Railways Board of different accounting arrangements, figures cannot be given which are precisely comparable with those for earlier years. The figures quoted are the Board's total revenue results and include surpluses on ships, harbours, hotels, etc.