'Due diligence' delays Nissan grant verdict

Jun 4 2010 by William Green, The Journal

A KEY minister has raised hopes that a £20m grant for Nissan will go ahead following a review of spending decisions by Labour.

Tory Business Minister Mark Prisk, who has responsibility for the car industry, said the review was not a “blanket” cancellation of projects.

His comments come after Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham, used a Parliamentary written question to ask about the future of the £20m grant for Nissan to help support its plans to build electric cars in Sunderland.

In a written reply, Mr Prisk said: “The Chief Secretary [to the Treasury] has written to all Secretaries of State asking them to re-examine all spending approvals made since 1 January and re-examine all pilot schemes.

“This is due diligence by the Government of their inheritance. It is not a blanket cancellation of projects or pilots. Where projects or pilots are affordable, consistent with the Government’s priorities and good value for money, they will go ahead.”

The developments come as a review of a £350m package to support the modernisation of the Tyne and Wear Metro remains unclear, despite Blaydon MP Dave Anderson raising his concerns in Parliament.

Transport Minister Norman Baker confirmed the Metro project was part of the review of Labour’s spending decisions, but was unable to provide more details, saying: “This work will be carried out as quickly as possible.”

In separate exchanges in the Commons yesterday, the Government was accused of putting Britain’s ability to develop green technology at risk by re-examining pledges of state aid signed off in the dying days of the Labour administration. Shadow business secretary Pat McFadden said: “Do you accept that if the damaging uncertainty over not only this but other important projects such as the electric car at Nissan and the automotive assistance to Ford is not resolved soon then all the Government’s talk about supporting a lower carbon economy will be seen as nothing more than rhetoric with their actions going in entirely the opposite direction?”

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “We have to do due diligence. There are a lot of projects that have to be reviewed.

“There is also the basic question of affordability. We have inherited the situation in which there is a very serious financial problem and all of these projects have to be judged against whether there is money available for it.”