Mr. Grylls asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will ensure that the Government's small firms loan guarantee scheme introduced on 1 June 1981 is not curtailed or halted when the initial limit set of £50 million is reached in the next few weeks.

Mr. MacGregor: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on Wednesday 21 October to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-West (Mr. Colvin). At the end of September guarantees had been issued for loans totalling £28.5 million .