§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the work-force employed on oil rigs operating in Scottish waters consists of persons normally domiciled in Scotland.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThere are no statistics which would separately identify workers normally domiciled in Scotland from workers from other parts of the country. However, estimates given by oil companies suggest that between a half and two-thirds of the workers on rigs at present operating off the coast of Scotland are British.
The operations so far have been mainly concentrated on exploration, which demands highly experienced staff. We expect that as the emphasis moves towards production drilling from fixed platforms, the proportion of locally recruited and trained staff will rise still further.
§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the 1,300 jobs estimated to have been created by the oil industry in Aberdeen has been filled by persons previously domiciled in Scotland.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe statistics are not available. However, firms engaged on activities connected with North Sea oil have recruited substantial numbers of workers locally.