§ Mr. BurdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the progress made by the Rover Task Force. [121344]
§ Mr. ByersThe Rover Task Force has published its interim report, which is available in the Libraries of the House and the Vote Office. A final report is expected to be published by the end of June.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government have sought EU approval for paying rescue aid to a bidder for Rover. [120826]
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Regional Selective Assistance originally proposed for BMW/Rover will be available for new projects in the West Midlands to replace Longbridge employment. [120855]
§ Mr. ByersWhen I set up the Rover Task Force on 17 March, I announced that a Government contribution of £129 million, which was originally offered to BMW in232W the form of Regional Selective Assistance, will now be available to support other, good quality projects in the region.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment he has made of the level of financial backing possessed by the Tower bid for Rover; [120854]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the extent of job losses (a) under the Alchemy bid, (b) under the Tower bid and (c) in the event of closure of the Rover plant at Longbridge. [120853]
§ Mr. ByersThe details of any successful bid for Rover, and hence the effects on employment, will not be known until agreement is finally reached with BMW.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's policy is towards the(a) Alchemy and (b) Towers consortium bids for Longbridge. [120827]
§ Mr. ByersThe Government have consistently stated that we want to see the best possible deal for Rover workers, suppliers and dealers.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assurances the Government have received from BMW about(a) the future of the Rover plant at Cowley and (b) the timing of the sale or closure of the Longbridge plant. [120825]
§ Mr. ByersThe future of Longbridge is the subject of commercial negotiations at the moment. BMW has stated that the future of its operations at Cowley are secure.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what estimate he has made of the amount of money needed from(a) all sources and (b) public funds to continue Rover production at Longbridge; [120857]
(2) what rescue aid the Government are prepared to offer for Rover. [120858]
§ Mr. ByersCommercial negotiations are still continuing over the future of Rover Group, including future production at Longbridge. No request for Government financial support has been received from any party to the negotiations.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Towers Consortium has(a) applied for regional selective assistance or other Department's grants or (b) indicated to his Department that it will be applying. [120549]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 2 May 2000]No application for Government grants or aid, or indication of a forthcoming application, has been received from the Towers Consortium.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many(a) meetings and (b) conversations he has had with (i) the principals and (ii) other representatives of (1) Alchemy Partners, (2) the Towers Consortium and (3) BMW since 31 March. [120092]
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the regional selective assistance offered to BMW/Rover was intended to cover revenue losses. [120821]