§ Mr. Neil Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the total cost of 322W payments to redundant British steel workers under the European Communities iron and steel readaptation benefits scheme for each year since its inception.
§ Mr. ButcherTotal payments to redundant British steel workers under this scheme have been as follows:
£'000 1974–75 2,160 1975–76 1,690 1976–77 1,289 1977–78 2,693 1978–79 4,969 1979–80 18,807 1980–81 34,236 1981–82 105,374 1982–83 102,569 1983–84* 44,544 * To date. The cost of the scheme is borne jointly by the United Kingdom Government and the European Coal and Steel Community.
§ Mr. Neil Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the total cost to British Steel since 1979 of statutory redundancy payments under the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 and any supplementary payments thereto.
§ Mr. ButcherI will reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Neil Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the total cost to public funds of the shipbuilding redundancy payments schemes.
§ Mr. ButcherSums advanced to British Shipbuilders and administrative costs incurred on the shipbuilding redundancy payments scheme for Great Britain amount to date to around £105 million. I understand that the comparable figure for payments to Harland and Wolff under the separate scheme for Northern Ireland is around £14 million.