§ Mr. Corrieasked the Secretary of State for Industry what assistance the Kirkby Manufacturing and Engineering 62W Company has received in the last four years; and for what purpose these grants were given.
§ Mr. Les Huckfield:KME has received grants under section 7 of the Industry Act 1972 of £3 .9 million in 1974 and £860,000 in 1977.
On each occasion Industry Act assistance was given to the co-operative. The purpose of the assistance was to fund the purchase of the assets from the receiver and for capital and working capital requirements in order to preserve jobs in an area of high unemployment.
My right hon. Friend has also announced on 1st October 1978 that the Department would meet KME's losses up to a maximum of £150,000 for the period from 2nd October up to the date of the completion of the working party which was appointed to consider KME's future.
This arrangement was subsequently extended to cover a further period to give Worcester Engineering Co. Limited time to negotiate terms with KME for a takeover of KME. As these negotiations ended on 7th December, the Department stated on 8th December that interim assistance had ceased. The amount of the assistance for this period has yet to be established. KME has also received regional development grants for expenditure on qualifying assets, but these amounts have not been published. The present practice is to publish quarterly the names of companies which have received payments in the previous quarter of £25,000 or more.