asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is yet in a position to announce the amount of public money given to the top 25 firms.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry gave details of the amount of Government grants paid to 10 leading companies in the years 1970 to 1973 in answer to a Question from my hon. Friend the Member for Dun-
| GOVERNMENT GRANTS TO 20 LEADING COMPANIES: 1970–73 (in £'000) | ||||||||||
| Company Group | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | Total | |||||
| Allied Breweries | … | … | … | 730 | 680 | 380 | 310 | 2,100 | ||
| Bass Charrington | … | … | … | 550 | 560 | 430 | 2,550 | 4,090 | ||
| Bowater(iii) | … | … | … | 2,300 | 1,770 | 300 | 480 | 4,840 | ||
| BICC | … | … | … | … | 3,050 | 1,920 | 400 | 1,180 | 6,550 | |
| BLMC | … | … | … | … | 8,250 | 7,930 | 2,520 | 820 | 19,520 | |
| Courtaulds | … | … | … | … | 9,540 | 10,460 | 5,590 | 3,350 | 28,940 | |
| Esso | … | … | … | … | 6,390 | 5,980 | 9,420 | 9,500 | 31,290 | |
| Fords | … | … | … | … | 3,530 | 8,510 | 2,860 | 1,810 | 16,710 | |
| Gallaher(iii) | … | … | … | 290 | 340 | 180 | 80 | 890 | ||
| GEC | … | … | … | … | 3,700 | 3,050 | 2,030 | 1,230 | 10,010 | |
| GKN | … | … | … | … | 2,330 | 3,120 | 1,630 | 1,150 | 8,230 | |
| Grand Metropolitan | … | … | 430 | 440 | 340 | 1,420 | 2,630 | |||
| ICI | … | … | … | … | … | 27,770 | 26,090 | 7,840 | 13,040 | 74,730 |
| Imperial Group | … | … | … | 1,880 | 1,650 | 870 | 770 | 5,180 | ||
| Rank Hovis McDougall | … | … | 1,250 | 880 | 290 | 130 | 2,550 | |||
| Reed International | … | … | 1,110 | 1,590 | 1,320 | 440 | 4,460 | |||
| Sears Holdings | … | … | … | 370 | 320 | 250 | 140 | 1,080 | ||
| Tate & Lyle | … | … | … | 900 | 680 | 2,720 | 1,040 | 5,350 | ||
| Unigate | … | … | … | … | 900 | 870 | 270 | 160 | 2,190 | |
| Unilever | … | … | … | … | 4,010 | 3,480 | 1,230 | 640 | 9,360 | |
| Totals | … | … | … | 79,290 | 80,330 | 40,860 | 40,240 | 240,700 | ||
| (i) The figures which relate to calendar years, are given correct to the nearest £10,000. They are individually rounded and may not therefore add up exactly to the totals shown. | ||||||||||
| (ii) Kinds of grants considered: | ||||||||||
| Investment grants | ||||||||||
| Regional development grants | ||||||||||
| Local Employment Acts: | ||||||||||
| Building grants | ||||||||||
| Plant and machinery grants | ||||||||||
| Operational grants. | ||||||||||
| Removal grants. | ||||||||||
| Industry Act 1972, Sections 7 and 8: | ||||||||||
| Interest relief grants. | ||||||||||
| Removal grants. | ||||||||||
| Grants under Section 8. | ||||||||||
| Shipbuilding Industry Board grants. | ||||||||||
| Construction grants for ships (Industry Act 1972 s. 11). | ||||||||||
| Any grants under special schemes of assistance to shipyards. | ||||||||||
| Grants under the Hotel Development Incentive Scheme. | ||||||||||
| (iii) The figures for Bowater and Gallaher have been provided by the companies themselves The basis of the Department's calculations was explained to the companies, who had expressed their willingness to help in this matter, and the results are broadly consistent with the Department's figures. | ||||||||||
bartonshire, Central (Mr. McCartney) on 29th July 1974.—[Vol. 878, c. 14–17.] Equivalent information on a further 10 companies was released by my Department in a Press notice on 12th September 1974. The attached table provides information of the amounts paid to all 20 companies. The Secretary of State also announced in reply to a Question from my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) on 31st July 1974 our intention to institute a system of regular quarterly publication of payments of regional development grants and offers of selective financial assistance to individual firms and establishments. The first of these quarterly lists will be published in the first half of this year.