Unicorn Heritage plc (Hansard, 19 January 1994)

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the reasons for his decision to declare as unrecoverable the grant made to Unicorn Heritage plc to promote the royal heritage exhibition.

§ Mr. Sproat
The writing-off of debts relating to grants paid under the section 4 grant scheme is an administrative procedure that does not require the intervention of the Secretary of State. In the case of Unicorn Heritage plc, the English tourist board was informed by the company's liquidators that there was no prospect of the debt being paid. The board accordingly recommended to my Department that the debt should be written off. My Department accepted the board's recommendation and once Treasury approval had been granted, the debt was 649W duly written off. Unicorn Heritage plc was treated in exactly the same way as any other company would have been in the circumstances.

§ Mr. Pendry
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what are the practices and criteria used to write off grants made by the English tourist board; and if he will make a statement with regard to the write-off of the £200,000 grant for Unicorn Heritage plc awarded in December 1988.

§ Mr. Sproat
The English tourist board has discretion to seek repayment of any grant made under section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969 if there is a breach of the grant conditions. Having raised a debt, the board will investigate the likelihood of repayment. If, following these investigations, the board judges that the debt is irrecoverable, it will formally recommend to my Department that the debt should be written off. My Department has authority to write off debts up to a value of £100,000. Debts over £100,000 can be written off only with Treasury approval.
In the case of Unicorn Heritage plc, I am satisfied that the English tourist board investigated thoroughly the possibility of repayment, and that the write-off procedures were correctly applied. Unicorn Heritage plc was treated in exactly the same way as any other company would have been in the circumstances.