To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on government liability for deficits in the pension funds of (a) Rolls Royce and (b) BAE Systems. [124905]

The Government assumed ultimate responsibility for any outstanding liabilities of British Aerospace, which vested in its successor company on 1 January 1981 in preparation for privatisation. The Government would only become responsible for such liabilities, including those for pension fund deficits, in the event of a voluntary winding up of BAE Systems plc or an order to wind up the company by the court under the Insolvency Act.The Government has no liability for deficits in the pension funds of Rolls-Royce.