§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has anything further to add to the answer given on 2 April,Official Report, column 149, regarding the sale of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist. [41233]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorIn my reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr. Hargreaves) of 2 April about the completion of the sale of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, I explained that the consideration—a payment to the Department of £360,000—was to be adjusted in the light of the level of net current assets at completion. The closing accounts for LGC in its last year as an executive agency of the Department have been laid before Parliament today. The adjustment to the sale consideration will be £729,000, resulting in a net payment by the Department to the purchaser of £369,000.
The payment arises principally because LGC's trading performance was not as good as expected and because the Department benefited from advance receipts for work which LGC would have to undertake after the sale. The payment by the Department takes account of LGC's purchase of employee debts. The fact that the sale of LGC represented value for money is not affected by this payment because changes to the level of net current assets and the purchase of employee debts have an equal impact on the benchmark.