§ Mr. Kenneth Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will set out the grants and loans made so far under the Industrial Common Ownership Act 1976.
§ Mr. Les Huckfield:Grants under section 1(1), for the purpose of assisting relevant bodies to provide advice about the organisation of common ownership enterprises and co-operative enterprises, have been made as follows:—
Year 1 (22 November 1976–21 November 1977) Industrial Common Ownership Movement £20,000 Scottish Co-operatives Development Committee £4,000 Year 2 (22 November 1977–21 November 1978) Industrial Common Ownership Movement £20,000 Scottish Co-operatives Development Committee £8,000 Co-operative Union £2,000 Section 1(2) authorises my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to make available up to £250,000 over the five years the Act remains in force to assist with the provision of small loans to worker-controlled enterprises. The 757W scheme is administered by Industrial Common Ownership Finance Ltd (ICOF) which receives these funds in the form of grants for on-lending to the enterprise concerned in accordance with the conditions specified in the Industrial Common Ownership (loans) Regulations 1977 (Statutory Instrument 1977 No. 1386). Seven such loans have been made so far, involving public funds of £46,000 altogether, In addition, grants totalling £18,000 have been made to ICOF in respect of its administration costs.