§ Mr. EnrightTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what guidelines are used for the remission of debt on grants issued by his Department.
§ Mr. SproatThe guidelines used by my Department, and the bodies we sponsor, to determine whether or not to 621W write off a particular grant are set out in "Government Accounting". These are that losses are to be written off only after a most careful appraisal of the facts; that Departments satisfy themselves that there is no feasible alternative; and that all reasonable action has been taken to effect recovery. I am satisfied that the control systems for authorising the write off of grants are working effectively in my Department.
For grants made by sponsored bodies, the decision to write off is, in the first instance, taken by the body, subject to delegated limits. For amounts above those limits, approval by my Department and the Treasury will be required, depending on the sums involved.