§ Mr. Rymanasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the total sum of money his Department has advanced to Courtaulds Ltd. and any of its subsidiaries during the last five years by way of (a) grant and (b) loan; and if he is satisfied that these grants and loans were used for the purposes intended in making them.
Mr. Alan WilliamsSince 1st January 1972 grants totalling £5,395,040 and loans totalling £700,000 have been advanced to Courtaulds and its main subsidiary companies under the Local Employment Acts and under Sections 7 and 8 of the Industry Act 1972. All these grants and loans have been monitored by my Department. I regret it is not possible, without a disproportionate amount of time and effort, to calculate the total amount of investment and regional development grant paid to Courtaulds and its subsidiaries over this period. However, over the past two years a total of at least £2.1 million in regional development grants has been paid to Courtaulds and seven major subsidiaries. This total does not include sums of less than £25,000.