§ Mr. Kenneth Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether his Department is now attaching pay policy conditions to all offers of grants to industry under Sections 1, 7 and 8, respectively, of the Industry Act 1972; what is his authority in law for attaching such conditions to offers; and whether he will set out the precise terms of the undertakings that are being sought.
Mr. CoyerIn accordance with the policy set out in paragraph 16 of the White Paper "The Attack on Inflation after 31 July 1977", and following the practice in earlier phases of pay policy, in considering applications for discretionary assistance under Sections 7 and268W 8 of the Industry Act 1972 account is taken of the company's pay settlements in deciding whether assistance should be provided. Offer letters reserve the right to refuse payment if at the time for payment pay policy has not been complied with. This procedure does not apply to the provision of regional development grants under Section 1 of the Act, since these do not normally involve the exercise of the Secretary of State's discretion. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has been advised that such conditions are relevant to the purposes of the legislation and, consequently, it is proper for them to be included. The precise terms of individual offers are negotiated in each case with the applicant company and are not disclosed.