§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Prime Minister (1) what meetings(a) he and (b) his officials held with the management of Govan/Kvaerner to discuss the future of the Govan shipyard; [R] [174254]
(2) what role he played in informal and oral approaches made to GEC over the purchase of Govan shipyard; [R] [174256]
(3) on which dates in 1999 he met Mr. George Simpson of GEC; if he will publish minutes of the meetings; and if he will list the attendees at those meetings; [174311]
(4) what communications (a) he and (b) his representatives and advisers had with GEC in 1999 over (i) the proposed merger of BAE-GEC and (ii) Govan shipyard; and if he will publish the communications [174312]
(5) what communications (a) he and (b) his representatives and advisers had with Kvaerner, their representatives and advisers over the proposed closure of the Govan shipyard in 1999; [174313]
1522W(6) what meetings (a) he and (b) his officials held with Sir Gavin Laird to discuss the future of the Govan shipyard. [174315]
§ The Prime MinisterMy officials and I have meetings and discussions with a wide range of organisations and individuals. As with previous Administrations it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings, under exemptions 2 and 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Prime Minister (1) what(a) his and (b) his officials' involvement was in the negotiations over the future of Govan shipyard; [R] [174255]
(2) what meetings took place between Mr. Ed Miliband and his officials in 1999 to discuss the (a) GEC-BAE merger and (b) Govan shipyard; [R] [174259]
(3) what advice he received in 1999 on the GEC interest in the Govan shipyard;.[R] [174260]
(4) what advice he received from the Ministry of Defence on the GEC-BAE merger; [R] [174258]
(5) when he was first informed of the GEC interest in the Govan shipyard [R] [174261]
§ The Prime MinisterInformation relating to internal discussion and advice is exempt from disclosure under exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Prime Minister what(a) his, (b) his officials and (c) his advisers involvement was in approving the GEC-BAE merger. [R] [174257]
§ The Prime MinisterThe decision was made by the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the right hon. Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) in his capacity set out in the Fair Trading Act 1973.
§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Prime Minister what the name was of the task force chaired by Sir Gavin Laird set up by the Government to look for potential buyers for the Govan shipyard; who was on the task force; what its terms of reference were; and when it was disbanded. [174314]
§ The Prime MinisterThe Kvaerner Task Force was set up by Lord Macdonald of Tradeston on 13 April 1999 under the Chairmanship of Sir Gavin Laird to identify potential purchasers of the shipyard at Govan, the engineering business in Clydebank, and for any other facilities subsequently identified for sale in Scotland. The other members of the Kvaerner Task Force were Bill Scott, Malcolm Clark and David Smith. The Task Force was wound up on 14 July 1999.