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Peugeot (Coventry)

I join others in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on securing this debate. He is a real battler for the workers in Coventry and he has always fought hard on the issues affecting Jaguar and Peugeot. I also congratulate him on that. I congratulate other hon. Members from that area. Two are next to me on the Front Bench—my right hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, North-East (Mr. Ainsworth) and my hon. and learned Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien)—and both have worked hard on the issue, as have my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson) and the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Jeremy Wright) who have also taken part in the debate and pursue an interest in the subject. I want to deal with the issues that have been raised and then say something about the general situation. My hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South asked how the site was acquired, and I am assured by my officials that there was no incentive or sweetener from Government. What happens to the site now is therefore a matter for the company, but I hope that it will work closely with the regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands, local councils and with us to ensure that we bring good employment back to the area. My hon. Friend also asked what grants Peugeot had received. He will know—I have told him before—that we offered £14.4 million to develop the new 207, but that project did not proceed. There was a grant about five years ago to support the introduction of an additional shift when demand for the 206 was at its peak and Peugeot has also participated in a number of research and development projects that have received grants from Government. However, it has not received grant funding directly provided to other partners in a joint project. My hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, North-West—I have to get the names of these Coventry constituencies right—asked whether the £5 million was real money. We have discussed that point with Peugeot and the company has given us a firm assurance and commitment that the £5 million is real money and that it has gone into funding the resource centre. It has also said to us that it will allocate more money if that is required for the resource centre.