§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry(Ms Hewitt)On 7 March,Official Report,column 89WS, I informed the House that British Energy had repaid to my Department all outstanding amounts under the credit facility. On a contingency basis I decided, with the 63WS company's agreement, to continue the facility, with the maximum amount available being reduced from £650 million to £200 million.
British Energy has subsequently utilised the facility in August. As the House was in recess at the time the drawing was made, my Department wrote to the Chairs of the Committee of Public Accounts and the Trade and Industry Committee to inform them of the fact. At the beginning of September, British Energy's outstanding drawdown on the facility was £13.1 million.
The stringent controls governing drawings on the facility by British Energy remain in place. As with the company's previous drawings, we expect further drawings to be repaid in full, including interest, as soon as the company is in a position to do so. British Energy's obligations under the credit facility agreement are secured by charges over the British Energy Group's assets. This security is in the nature of a senior charge, which would take priority over the claims of other creditors, should the company become insolvent.
British Energy continues to work on implementing its restructuring plan. It announced on 11 September that it had agreed the sale of its stake in its US joint venture, Amergen, subject to certain regulatory and other conditions. But there remain significant milestones ahead. Successful implementation of the restructuring plan will require a number of further conditions to be met, including satisfactory formal commitments from creditors to support the plan, completion of the Amergen sale and receipt of state aids approval from the European Commission. I will also need to be satisfied that implementation of the restructuring will lead to a viable restructured entity that will not be dependent on Government support in the long term. If these conditions cannot be met, the Government remain well prepared for administration.