§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Industry how much has been made available under the Industry Act to British Leyland in respect of its Bathgate factory; and what steps he is taking to recover money made available by way of grant or loan to British Leyland in respect of its Bathgate factory.
§ Mr. Wakeham[pursuant to his reply, 7 December 1981, c. 300]: The general government funding for BL provided since 1975, advanced either via the NEB or, since 31 March 1981, direct to the company, totals £1,700 million. These funds have been provided for BL's investment and restructuring programmes generally, and have been used by BL as part of its general funding. It is not possible to state how much of this funding—as opposed to private sector loans—has been used at Bathgate. Since all this funding constitutes the Government's shareholding in BL, repayment would only be possible if the shares were sold.
The only assistance provided to BL under the Industry Act 1972 has been in the form of regional development grants made in respect of the Bathgate premises as a whole. The sum of such grants paid during the period 1 October 1974 to 30 June 1981 (excludng any grants worth less than £25,000, and any grant paid before than, details of which could only be obtained at disproportionate cost) is £3,047,000.
The Department is maintaining contact with the management at BL's Bathgate plant and will take steps to recover the appropriate amount of regional development grant when final details of transfer or disposal of grant-aided assets are available.