§ 26. Mr. John Ellisasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will give details on the level of investment in British steel as compared with other EEC countries in recent years; and what figures he has on future investment here and in the EEC countries.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldFigures produced by the European Commission show investment expenditure by the United Kingdom iron and steel industry was the highest in Europe in 1975. This was also the case for estimated expenditure in 1976 and 1977 for projects in progress and approved at 1st January 1976; the amount for the United Kingdom for these two years together was £916 million compared with £618 million for the Federal German Republic, £555 million for Italy and £428 million for France. BSC's capital investment in 1976–77 was a record figure of approximately £580 million and is expected to be about £600 million in the current financial year.