§ Dr. John A. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how much Government financial assistance has been given to each of the firms in Great Britain at present involved in hovercraft production; and what are the locations of these firms;
(2) what are the annual figures for Government aid given to the British hovercraft industry in each of the last 10 years, and the total for this period;
(3) what proportion of the total Government financial assistance to the hovercraft industry paid in the last 10 years has gone to firms located in development areas;
(4) how much Government financial assistance has been given to projects in years to firms in the hovercraft industry which are no longer trading;
(5) how much Government financial assostance has been given to projects in the hovercraft industry in the last 10 years which have subsequently been scrapped or discontinued;
(6) how many different types of light hovercraft are currently in production in Great Britain; and how much Government financial assistance has been given to each;
(7) if he will list the purposes for which Government financial assistance has been made available to the hovercraft industry since its inception, and give the total sums made available under each heading;
(8) if he will give the names of the companies in Great Britain in receipt of Government assistance at present involved in hovercraft production and describe the types of craft they are producing.
§ Mr. Anthony GrantFinancial assistance to the hovercraft industry since its inception has taken a variety of forms. Loans have been given by the National Research Development Corporation; investment grants for craft and prototypes have been available under the Industrial Development Act 1966; direct aid has been given under the Science and20W Technology Act 1965. Indirect aid, the total value of which cannot be quantified, has been given by means of the purchase of craft by DTI for evaluation and research, intramural studies carried out by Government research establishments, defence contracts and an advanced factory given rent-free for five years under the Local Employment Act.
The purposes for which aid has been given vary according to the source and the Act invoked. Loans given by NRDC constitute launching aid; investment grants and local employment assistance serve their particular purposes as defined in the Acts; R & D contracts are placed to ensure preliminary research and further development.
Government expenditure in the field of research and development to date it about £12 million, and is continuing. The current programme, as announced in the House last March, was designed to develop and improve the existing craft all of which were then being produced in the Solent area.
Firms now in production or with production facilities are the British Hovercraft Corporation Ltd. (BHC), Cushion-craft Ltd., Hovermarine Transport Ltd. (HTL), and Vosper Thornycroft Ltd., all in the Southampton—Isle of Wight area; Sealand Hovercraft Ltd. is in Millom, Cumberland.
Craft manufactured by these companies are:
Cushioncraft CC7 BHC SRN4, SRN6, BH7 HTL HM2, Hovercat Vosper Thornycroft VT1 Sealand SH2 There are at least four types of light hovercraft either in production or being custom built, i.e. Hovercat, SH2, Skima, made by Pindair, and Cyclone, made by Light Hovercraft. A sum of £34,000 was spent on contracts with two firms not now in existence. One R & D project was discontinued after approximately £50,000 had been spent with a number of firms.