§ Mr. Buchanan-Smithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what conditions are prescribed regarding the purchase of home-built boats and home-manufactured equipment in the administration of grants and loans to the fishing industry.
§ Mr. RossThe conditions on which grants are made for the purchase of new fishing vessels and equipment are prescribed in The Fishing Vessels (Acquisition and Improvement) (Grants) Scheme, 1967, S.I. No. 372, as amended by The Fishing Vessels (Acquisition and Improvement) (Grants) (Amendment) Scheme, 1967, S.I. No. 1131. The general conditions apply whether a boat is built at home or abroad except that the full rate of grant is not payable on a vessel built in a foreign yard, whether or not the vessel incorporates equipment built in the United Kingdom, unless the Ministers are satisfied that the expenditure was incurred at a cost which compares fairly with the cost at which the construction could have been carried out in the United Kingdom. No provision is otherwise made in this scheme for a distinction to be drawn between equipment made at home and that made abroad.
The White Fish Authority and the Herring Industry Board are empowered under arrangements approved by Ministers and by the Treasury, and subject to the availability of funds, to give loans towards the purchase of new or secondhand fishing vessels and of new engines and fishing gear. Similarly they make loans towards the cost of equipment for 129W processing fish in premises ashore. The principal conditions are that borrowers shall be British subjects or British companies and that they shall satisfy the Authority, or the Board, as to the soundness of the investment proposed. The arrangements do not distinguish between vessels or equipment made in the United Kingdom and those made abroad. Full details of the conditions of grant and loan assistance may be obtained from the Authority or the Board.