§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will separately list the number of occasions when the National Enterprise Board has led or sponsored export consortia designed to market capital goods abroad, and the success achieved to date; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldThis is a matter for the Board.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Industry how many companies the National Enterprise Board has acquired since its formation, the total value of the assets thus acquired and the number of firms disposed of during the same period excluding the recent sale of Reed and Smith.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldThe Board has acquired direct interests in 35 companies since its formation; of these companies, 13 are now subsidiaries of the Board and five of those are wholly-owned. Many of the 35 companies themselves have wholly-owned or partly-owned subsidiaries: the total figure is not readily available. The total value of the assets 567W employed by the Board on 31st December 1976—the latest date for which this information is available—was £830.1 million. The Board has sold its shareholding in one company only since its formation.