§ 7. Mr. Shortasked the President of the Board of Trade how many firms in 5 development districts in the North-East have applied for inclusion in the trade lists of approved tenderers under the Government Contracts Preference Scheme since 3rd February, 1960; and how many have been approved for inclusion.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade (Mr. David Price)Each purchasing authority in a Government Department and a nationalised industry maintains its own series of trades lists of approved tenderers, which include both firms in development districts and firms outside. Under the Government Contracts Preference Scheme these authorities, when awarding contracts by open competitive tender, are normally prepared to give preference to firms in development districts, provided that price, specification, delivery, etc., are equal. I cannot say how many firms in each of these separate lists may be situated in development districts in the North-East.
§ Mr. ShortWhy cannot the hon. Gentleman say this? The list of firms is published in the Board of Trade Journal. Does not he agree that, if the existence of the list were made more widely known to firms in development districts, more of them might wish to apply for inclusion?
§ Mr. PriceI think that the hon. Gentleman has the point wrong about the Board of Trade Journal. We do not maintain at the Board of Trade a list of tenderers approved under the Government Contracts Scheme. Lists are maintained by purchasing authorities, of which there are over sixty, and they classify their lists according to the type of purchase required. For instance, in the War Office alone there are 1,500 such lists.