§ Mr. Dykesasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list and quantify in £ sterling the amounts given in grants by the European Economic Community to the United Kingdom steel industry to finance readaption measures for workers affected by steel plant closures and modernisation, under article 56 of the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty in 1979 and 1980.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallThe amounts allocated from European Community funds to finance readaptation grants to redundant steelworkers under the provisions of article 56 of the ECSC Treaty were approximately £6.6 million in 1979 and £34 million in 1980, as follows:
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£000 1979 BSC 6,069 Alfer Aluminising 17 Edgar Alan Balfour 138 Birds, Ebbw Vale 10 Firth Brown 138 Round Oak 139 Spartan Redheugh 19 Swift Levick Warner & Co. 21 Watsons Metallurgists 2 William Oxley & Co. 5 Total 6,643 1980 BSC 30,976 John Bagnall & Sons 100 Edgar Alan Balfour 250 Bradley and Foster 88 Ductile Planetary Mill 52 Duport (London Works) 73 Duport (Llanelli) 35 Fords Blast Furnace 102 GKN Brymbo 76 J. J. Habershon & Sons 13
£'000 Hadfielzds 72 R. Hampton Ltd. 14 J. B. & S. Lees Ltd. 22 Napier Steels 22 Neepsend 95 Osborne Steels 270 Patent Shaft 1,079 H. S. Pitt & Co. 12 Round Oak Steel 571 Thomas Turton & Sons 40 Total 33,962 These sums represent the approximate sterling equivalent of the expected Community share of benefits to be paid under the joint Government/Community readaptation scheme to redundant steelworkers for whom our applications for assistance from ECSC funds were accepted in 1979 and 1980.
The actual amounts paid will depend on the circumstances of those affected during their period of eligibility for support aid: that is from 78 to 130 weeks, depending on age.