§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if, pursuant to the reply of 24 February, Official Report, columns 421–22, he will list the people, together with their position in the company, who are conducting negotiations with General Motors on behalf of BL; what specific assurances Government officials are seeking from General Motors regarding the future of the relevant Land Rover-Leyland business under General Motors ownership; if he will undertake to meet trade union delegations prior to any agreement with General Motors being ratified; and if he will now say what role General Motors World Truck is playing in the talks.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonUnder the direction of the BL board, commercial negotiations with GM are being conducted principally by Mr. N. J. Carver, Director of Business Strategy, BL plc, Mr. C. R. Lyddon, Director, Finance and Audit, BL plc, and Mr. H. A. Rose, Director Finance and Planning, Land Rover-Leyland Ltd.
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry told the House on 3 February, General Motors are being asked to give undertakings that the majority of the products sold by the businesses involved would be manufactured in the Unied Kingdom, that the products would continue to have a high local content, that there would be a substantial level of exports, that research and development facilities would be maintained and developed in the United Kingdom, that Land Rover would retain its distinct British identity, and that an appropriate level of investment would be injected into the business to achieve competitive future models and facilities.
I have myself met a number of trade union delegations to explain the current position. I remain very willing to meet further trade union delegations from BL and GM at any time.
Should an agreement with General Motors be concluded, it would, of course, be for the management to determine its product range. The R & D resources of GM, including their work on a world truck for the next decade would be available to the combined business.