§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the occasions between January 1980 and December 1984 on which members of his Department's south-west industrial office have absented themselves from board meetings because of potential conflicts of interest, indicating(a) the date, (b) the board members, (c) the company, (d) the value of the financial assistance applied for, (e) the value of the assistance subsequently offered and (f) the potential conflict of interest; [35244]
(2) if he will list the occasions between January 1985 and December 1989 on which members of his Department's south-west industrial office have absented themselves from board meetings because of potential conflicts of interest, indicating (a) the date, (b) the board members, (c) the company, (d) the value of the financial assistance applied for, (e) the value of the assistance subsequently offered and (f) the potential conflict of interest. [35245]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answers 1 July 1996]: Listed in the table are the occasions when members of the South West industrial development board are known to have absented themselves—because of potential conflicts of interest— from discussions between 1980 and 1989 of cases which subsequently resulted in offers of regional selective assistance.
Unfortunately, this list may be incomplete. The files containing the full minutes of the board before early 1988 were destroyed after a set period in accordance with the records management procedures then in place in the Department's south-west regional office—now absorbed in the Government office for the south-west. We have, however, been able to establish some earlier abstentions from other sources.
I should make it clear that, throughout this period, board members declared directorships and similar substantial interests in companies both on appointment and when lists of forthcoming cases were regularly 483W circulated. Where such declarations had been made, the members concerned would neither have seen the papers relating to applications from those companies nor have attended relevant discussions of the board.
Date Board member Cases Grant applied for £ Grant offered £ 13 December 1983 K. Holmes Marine Projects (Plymouth) Ltd. 76,000 1110,000 29 October 1985 V. Parsons Wandel and Goltermann Ltd. 400,000 400,000 28 October 1986 K. Holmes Marine Projects (Plymouth) Ltd. 300,000 300,000 22 March 1988 G. Hoare J and F Pool Ltd. 250,000 75,000 28 February 1989 K. Holmes Marine Projects (Plymouth) Ltd. 1,000,000 800,000 25 July 1989 R. Harris Ranco Controls Ltd. 400,000 400,000 1 For expanded project.
§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 18 June,Official Report, columns 458–59, in what circumstances the financial assistance schemes mentioned go before the industrial development board for scrutiny and approval; and what other procedures are followed. [37713]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 17 July 1996]: Offers of regional selective assistance cases involving potential grant above a set level—which in the case of the south-west was until recently £100,000 but is now £250,000—but not exceeding £2 million are considered by a regional industrial development board—or, exceptionally, by the national industrial development advisory board. Offers of grant below the set level may be approved by officials without reference to the boards but officials have discretion to seek board advice in any case where they consider it desirable to do so. Offers of regional selective assistance above £2 million are normally appraised in headquarters and considered by the industrial development advisory board. All offers of £1 million or more are subject to ministerial approval.
Offers of assistance under the other schemes referred to in my earlier answer have been considered by officials within guidelines and against criteria approved by Ministers, without reference to external advisory boards but subject to ministerial approval above certain thresholds.
§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what financial assistance has been given by his Department since 1980 to Company A, the identity having been supplied to him, by(a) type of grant, (b) date offered, including month and (c) date of payment, including month. [37644]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 17 July 1996]: Company A was offered regional selective assistance of £2 million in October 1989. Payment was made in four instalments as follows:
484W
- January 1991: £400,000
- December 1991: £800,000
- December 1992: £400,000
- December 1993: £400,000
No other assistance has been offered under the Department's principal regional, enterprise and technology schemes; nor has any loan to the company been covered under the small firms loan guarantee scheme.
§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 18 June,Official Report, columns 461–64, under what terms the financial assistance to Magrathea (Pendennis) Ltd. was granted; what is the company's current status; what assessment he has made of the productiveness of the grant; and if he will make a statement. [37647]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 17 July 1996]: Magrathea (Pendennis) Ltd. was offered regional selective assistance of £400,000 on 31 May 1994 to enable the company to establish a facility for the manufacture of marine components at Pendennis shipyard, Falmouth. The project had created 13 full-time jobs out of a total expected of 32 when the company suffered a major fire at the yard in October 1994 and subsequently went into receivership. A liquidator was appointed in February this year, and the Government office for the south-west has sought recovery of the total grant paid—£320,000. It is possible that Magrathea 2000 Ltd., which has bought the assets of Magrathea (Pendennis) Ltd. will continue the project.
§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if Mr. D was a member of his Department's South West industrial development board at the time of(a) the application and (b) the offer of any financial assistance since 1985 to company A, the identities having been supplied to him; [37642]
(2) if, during his tenure on his Department's South West industrial development board, Mr. D was obliged to absent himself from any meetings due to a potential conflict of interest arising from his directorship and shareholding in company A, the identities having been supplied to him; [37645]
(3) what role Mr. D has played in the granting of financial assistance by his Department to company A, the identities having been supplied to him. [37646]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answers 17 July 1996]: Mr. D was a member of the industrial development board when regional selective assistance was applied for, and offered to, company A in 1989. Because of the size of the application, the case was—in accordance with normal procedures—appraised centrally and not considered by the regional board; nor did Mr. D play any other role in the granting of the assistance. The Department is unaware of any instance where Mr. D's interests in company A necessitated his abstention from discussion by the board of applications by other companies.
§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the President of the Board if Mr. B of his Department's South West industrial development board absented himself from board meetings discussing grant applications from company A due to a potential conflict of interest as a senior partner of the firm advising this company on its grant application; and if he will make a statement. [37643]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 17 July 1996]: As explained in my answer to a previous question, the board did not discuss the regional selective assistance application from company A.