§ Lord Bruce-Gardyneasked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the aggregate cost to date of all grants, loans and other taxpayer finance provided for the Hyster Corpoation; what is the number of permanent jobs thereby created; and what has been the change in employment elsewhere in the United Kingdom fork-lift truck industry since such finance was first forthcoming.
§ The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Lord Gray of Contin)The Hyster Company has had a plant engaged in the manufacture of fork-lift trucks at Irvine in Ayrshire for the past 25 years or so, and during that period it has benefited under various Government schemes of assistance to industry.
A major modernisation and expansion programme at Irvine has recently been announced by the company. As a manufacturing operation located in a Special Development Area, the company will be entitled to claim regional development grant of 22 per cent. on the cost of eligible new plant and equipment provided for the project.
The Government have also made an offer of selective financial assistance towards the capital and training costs involved in undertaking the project, but details of such assistance are normally treated as commercially confidential until such time as they are published in British Business during the quarter following payment of the first instalment; this has not yet occurred. In this case, however, the aid package was the subject of consultation with the European Commission, at the conclusion of which certain information relating thereto was published in the European Report dated 27th January 1984.
The investment project is expected to safeguard the existing employment for about 500 people at Irvine and to create up to 1,000 additional jobs there over a 5-year period. Available statistics do not identify employment in the fork-lift truck industry as such and it is not therefore possible to quote relevant figures for the industry. The project is however intended to enable the Irvine plant to compete effectively and directly with the increasing flow of imports to the European Community of fork-lift vehicles from overseas.
The Hyster Company also has a plant in Northern Ireland.