§ Mr. PageTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give in respect of each privatisation since 1979(a) the loss or profit for the five years prior to privatisation and (b) any grants or loans made over the same period.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe only privatisation that my Department has undertaken since 1979 was the sale of Royal Ordnance plc, following an open competition. to British Aerospace plc in April 1987. The trading results of the ROF's trading fund, which operated from 1 July 1974 to 1 January 1985, and of the successor company, after 2 January 1985, are given in the relevant published accounts. These were summarised in figure 1 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, "Ministry of Defence: Sale of Royal Ordnance plc", HC 162.
Detailed records of my Department's financial transactions with the ROFs are no longer readily available. Precise information concerning any grants or loans in the period in question could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.