§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what basis loans may be made for a departmental budget to a private company in administration; on how many occasions this has occurred in the last four years; and how such loans would be treated in the national accounts. [22062]
§ Mr. Andrew Smith[holding answer 10 December 2001]: The basis on which loans may be made from a departmental budget to a private company in administration is as for any other expenditure. Departments must take account of the guidance in Government Accounting, in particular, Chapter 2, on the powers to incur expenditure.
Information on the number of occasions that such loans have been made in the last four years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
In national accounts such loans are treated as loans from the government sector to the private sector. There is no impact on the public sector current surplus, public sector net borrowing, or Total Managed Expenditure (TME).