§ Lord Bruce-Gardyneasked Her Majesty's Government:
What benefits the Hyster Corporation has received, severally and in aggregate, from Government schemes of assistance to industry in respect of its plant at Irvine over the past 25 years or so; what is the aggregate value of selective financial assistance offered towards the capital and the training costs respectively of that company's modernisation and expansion programme at Irvine as detailed in the European Report dated 27th January 1984; what is the number of persons to be trained under the terms of this programme; what consideration the Government have given to the impact of such assistance upon other UK manufacturers of competing equipment; whether they will confirm that other such manufacturers will be entitled to compensatory financial support under the terms of the Industry Act 1972; what has been the aggregate cost to public funds to date of all assistance from the taxpayer of whatever form to the Hyster plant in Northern Ireland; what was the number of jobs which that company agreed to generate in Northern Ireland in consideration of such assistance; and what is the number currently employed there.
§ The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Lord Gray of Contin)Details of Government assistance to individual companies are, with certain limited exceptions, regarded as commercially confidential. Information about assistance which may have been offered to the Hyster Company at Irvine prior to the introduction of the Industry Act 1972 is not available at reasonable cost.
In July 1974, the then Secretary of State for Industry announced arrangements whereby individual payments of Regional Development Grant exceeding £25,000, and brief details of individual offers of selective financial assistance exceeding £10,000, would be published in British Business. Payments of Regional Development Grant to Hyster at Irvine which have been published under these arrangements amount to £504,000. The company was also offered an Interest Relief Grant of £550,000 in 1978.
Details of the offer of selective assistance made in 1983 have not yet been published in British Business but, as indicated in the Answer given on 27th February (Hansard, Vol. 448, Col. 1147), certain information relating thereto was published in the European Report dated 27th January 1984. The formal publication in British Business, which is likely to take place later this year, will not add materially to that information.
Projects which are accepted for selective financial assistance are required to make a positive contribution to the national and regional economy, and the industrial impact of the proposal is considered in that context. The various schemes of assistance under the Industrial Development Act 1982 are designed only to encourage capital investment projects which will create or safeguard employment in the Assisted Areas or which will give rise to significant benefit to the UK economy. Any company with a suitable project may apply for consideration.
964WASimilar considerations of commercial confidentiality apply to individual offers of Government assistance made in Northern Ireland. Until October 1980 it was the practice of the Department of Commerce in Northern Ireland not to divulge the amounts of selective financial assistance provided to industrial companies, and an understanding to this effect was written into all agreements between the department and companies. In the present case the agreement was made in April 1979 and it is not, therefore, possible to provide the information sought in relation to that agreement.
Hyster Limited has received the following grants from the Department of Economic Development in Northern Ireland under schemes generally available in the Province:
£ Special Engineering Training Scheme 282,982.02 Training on Employers' Premises Scheme 423,807.71 Key Worker Scheme 104,833.31 Apprentice Training Grant Scheme 4,179.62 Security Staff Grants Scheme 4,417.00