§ Lord Brougham and Vauxasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the trading results of the Crown Suppliers will be known.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Hesketh)The Comptroller and Auditor-General has today laid before the House the annual accounts for the Crown Suppliers for 1989. TCS recorded a deficit on their ordinary activities of £2.5 million on a turnover of £165 million. I have placed in the Library a copy of the chief executive's report. He says that a surplus would have been made, as in previous years, but for the reduction in turnover of £57 million which resulted for the transfer to other Government departments of activities which are not to be privatised, with insufficient time available in the period to make commensurate reduction in overheads. Sales for the first quarter of 1990 were above budget, and the business has been restructured to prepare it for privatisation.