HC Deb 05 March 1997 vol 291 cc622-3W
Mr. Milburn

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much in total his Department has failed to recover from companies defaulting on the terms of awards of regional selective assistance for each of the last 10 financial years; and if he will list the number of companies which defaulted in each year. [18669]

Mr. Greg Knight

[holding answer 4 March 1997]: The amount that the Department has failed to recover in the last 10 financial years is:

Number of companies £000
1987–88 3 841
1988–89 19 620
1989–90 40 704
1990–91 55 1,287
1991–92 152 5,988
1992–93 181 9,025
1993–94 89 2,747
1994–95 54 2,543
1995–96 57 1,659
1996 to February 97 99 2,593

In total, this amounts to less than 3 per cent. of the total spend over the same period.