§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total estimated cost to(a) his Department and (b) the Exchequer generally, of the fraud at Ferranti/ISC; and what assessment he has made of the total number of jobs lost (i) directly and (ii) indirectly in the United Kingdom as a result of this fraud in the subsequent collapse of the company.
§ Mr. AitkenMy Department has no means of assessing what, if any, additional costs it bore as a result of the fraud; the question of any loss to the Exchequer generally is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Nor has my Department any way of isolating the net changes in employment in the company and in other United Kingdom companies as a result of the fraud from the changes brought about by more general trends in the defence and civil markets for the company's products.