§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Energy what are the annual totals for grants and loans received by his Department and by each of the energy industries in each year since 1973 from European Community sources.
§ Mr. Norman LamontSince 1973 the European Investment Bank has made available the following loans to energy industries in the United Kingdom:
The following moneys were received from the ECSC in support of the coal industry:
49W
£ million (outturn prices) 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 (i) to Department of Energy — — 2.2 — 5.3 0.5 5.0 2.9 (ii) to National Coal Board — — 2.0 — 2.5 1.0 1.8 1.2 The European social fund has made the following grants to United Kingdom industries since 1973:
£000s 1976 1977 1978 1979 British Gas Council 178 465 580 254 The European regional development fund (ERDF) has made the following grants to United Kingdom energy industries, through the Department of Energy, since 1973:
£000s at outturn prices 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 (i) From the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) — — — — — — Towards supplementary payment to elderly redundant mineworker; 2250 2000 3305 2644 4897 1650 Towards pit closures 2000 1000 1540 1016 2076 337 From the ECSC for special steels projects for office installations — — 402 382 7 — (ii) From the European Community for nuclear research and development 1979 2326 2656 5351 5351 10261 Financial assistance is also provided from the European Communities budget direct to United Kingdom companies and other bodies for energy projects but figures for the total sums received are not available. Information on most of the contracts placed by the Commission during its first four-year energy research and development programme 1975–79, s been published in its report "Energy Research and Development Programme: Status Report 1979, Vols I & II" February 1979, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Questions covering loans and grants to the Scottish electricity boards and the Northern Ireland Electricity Service are matters for the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.