§ Mr. MilliganTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he will make a statement on the transitional arrangements to apply to the termination of the iron and steel employees readaptation benefit scheme—ISERBS.
§ Mr. SainsburyA statutory instrument was laid today and comes into force tomorrow.
When I announced the termination of the scheme on 29 October 1993 I said that permanent closures, capacity cuts or changes in activities at steel companies which were imminent would be considered under transitional arrangements. The proposals for those arrangements, that closures and capacity cuts occurring on or after 1 January 1994 should not be eligible for consideration, were issued in a consultation paper and all the comments received have been considered.
The regulations provide that, subject to the other provisions of the scheme, benefits may still be paid where such events have occurred before 28 January 1994 and the transfer or redundancy relating to those events, including any period of notice, occurs on or before 1 May 1994; providing that the European Commission approves the provision of aid in respect of those events and the individual concerned.
Where such events have already been accepted by the Commission as justifying payments under the ECSC treaty, the regulations provide that, subject to the other provisions of the scheme, payments may be made to any steel employee whose redundancy or transfer—whenever it occurs—relates to those events, provided that the Commission also approves the provision of aid in respect of that individual.