Magnox: Early Contract Terminations
Debate between Mike Freer and Greg Clark(7 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Greg Clark
Yes. There have been constructive discussions with the representatives of the workforce. Those discussions and consultations continue. Of course, we want to bring them to a satisfactory conclusion.
Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green) (Con)
The NDA settlement payments are very substantial. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that although the payments were made without accepting liability, the cost had the potential to rise much further were the matter taken to court?
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have a duty to consider the further risks to public money, which is why my accounting officer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and I accepted on advice that, however painful it is—these are significant sums of money, as my hon. Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Mike Freer) said—we should prevent the sums of money from being even greater.