§ Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will take steps to reimburse the borough of Blackburn £85,000 in interest charges borne by it through the late reimbursement by Her Majesty's Treasury of moneys expended by the borough of Blackburn on behalf of the Manpower Services Commission;
(2) if he will take steps to expedite the payment of moneys due to the borough of Blackburn in respect of schemes operated by it on behalf of the Manpower Services Commission and payable by Her Majesty's Treasury.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 15 July 1981]: The Manpower Services Commission would consider reimbursing the borough of Blackburn any interest charges borne by the borough because of unreasonable delay in the reimbursement of moneys expended by the borough whenever the cause of the delay was the responsibility of the commission or its officials.
I understand, however, that the commission is taking all reasonable steps to expedite the payment of moneys due to the borough of Blackburn.