§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the profit or loss, before compensation for price restraint, of each nationalised industry in the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettFollowing is the information. The results shown are taken from the latest available published reports and accounts of the industries.
the Common Market have been vetoed under the provisions of the Exchange Control Act since 1st January 1973; in how many cases has export been sanctioned; in how many cases has it been refused; if he will issue a list of the projects for which exports have been so sanctioned; and if he will make a statement explaining the considerations governing the scrutiny of applications for export to the Common Market including to what extent these differ from the consideration governing the export of capital elsewhere.
§ Mr. Dell,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 30th January 1976; Vol. 904, c. 378], gave the following information:
About 4,000 applications for direct investment in the EEC, excluding local borrowing under guarantee, were 459W approved from January 1973 to March 1974. Roughly three-quarters of these involved some access to official exchange and thus some direct export of capital.
The Budget in March 1974 withdrew the special facility introduced in 1972 for EEC investment. Since then, about 2,000 applications have been approved, almost all financed so as to avoid direct capital exports.
No meaningful record of refusals is available, nor are particulars of individual applications for consent made public. As my hon. Friend was told on 26th January, applications are considered in the light of the expected effects on our balance of payments, including industrial aspects. Under current policy, the same considerations govern the scrutiny of investments in the EEC and elsewhere outside the Scheduled Territories.