§ Mr. Michael McGuireasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give details in theOfficial Report of the total amount of money which the coal industry and the nuclear power industry 582W have received from various Governments since 1955.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 11 July 1979],gave the following answer:
The total amount of net identifiable grants voted and paid to the National Coal Board from 1954–55 to 1978–79 inclusive was £1,086–9 million.
The total amount of loans made to the National Coal Board between 1 January 1955 and 31 March 1979 and either written off or outstanding on 31 March 1979 was £1,349.1 million.
Sums paid to private coal mining companies have been negligible. The net total of grants voted and paid to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority from 1954–55 to 1978–79 inclusive was £1,626.7 million. This sum includes a repaid loan of £4 million and small amounts of expenditure on grants in aid, subscriptions to international bodies and so on.
The figures of voted payments for 1978–79 included in those shown above are provisional and subject to minor amendment.