§ Mr. Anthony CoombsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what financial arrangements have been put in place with ASL consequent upon the transfer of the National Engineering Laboratory. [2273]
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§ Mr. Ian TaylorFurther to my reply to the hon. Member for Dover (Mr. Shaw) of 31 October,Official Report, column 211, the business and staff of the National Engineering Laboratory have now transferred to Assessment Services Ltd. A payment of £1.95 million was made to ASL on completion and there will be a further adjustment as set out in my earlier answer. Overall, these terms represent better value for money for my Department than the other bids received or the sale benchmark.
Approval to this new service will be sought in a winter supplementary estimate for the Department of Trade and Industry's programmes and administration vote—class IV, vote 1. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure of £1.95 million has been met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.