§ Dr. Godmanasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if the new owners of Scott Lithgow are to 661W receive state aid for training programmes; and if he will require them inter alia to employ the services of the skillcentre training agency at Hillington, Glasgow;
(2) if the new owners of Scott Lithgow Ltd. will receive financial aid in terms of selective regional assistance and funding for training programmes;
(3) if his assistance has been sought by the new owners of Scott Lithgow Ltd. with an application for grant aid from the European Coal and Steel Community; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Allan StewartI have been asked to reply.
The new owners of Scott Lithgow have applied to the Secretary of State for Scotland for selective financial assistance in the form of exchange risk guarantee on a loan from the European Coal and Steel Community and a grant towards the costs of new capital investment in the yard at Port Glasgow together with the related training costs. The application is under active appraisal by the Industry Department for Scotland but no decision has yet been made as to whether, or what, assistance will be given. This will depend, inter alia, on the outcome of the appraisal and the advice of the Scottish industrial development advisory board which has the statutory duty to advise the Secretary of State on applications for financial assistance.
The facilities of the skillcentre training agency are available to the company but decisions on implementing training in accordance with any programme which may be agreed, is a matter for the company's judgment.