HC Deb 12 December 1973 vol 866 cc395-6
9. Mr. Douglas

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in an early issue of the Scottish Economic Bulletin the number of Scottish registered companies which are engaged in supplying materials to the licensees operating on the United Kingdom sector of the Continental Shelf.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

Offshore operators use a very wide range of materials, many supplied through subcontractors, and it would be impracticable to try to identify all the many Scottish firms concerned.

Mr. Douglas

Will the right hon. Gentleman consider the opposite side of the picture? How many jobs have been lost in Scotland because there is no United Kingdom design for a concrete production platform? Will he, with his right hon. Friend, also consider the number of jobs lost in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom because we are not building any semi-submersible drilling rigs, as are other countries?

Mr. Campbell

British firms have put in an application for the construction of concrete platforms, which is under inquiry in accordance with our planning procedures. I am sure the hon. Gentleman and the House will agree that the time and energy of officials are better spent in helping firms to get business at present and in the future than in seeking to compile statistics which it would be impossible to complete.

Mr. Ewing

On the question of generating jobs from North Sea oil, does the Secretary of State consider that this is an appropriate time for him and his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to push BP to expand refining capacity at Grangemouth and to state a definite date when that expansion, which has already been announced, will take place?

Mr. Campbell

We shall keep in touch with oil companies on this matter. The hon. Gentleman knows that applications have been put in for refineries in other parts of Scotland. We also know of other projects for refineries for which planning application has not yet been put in. The whole picture has to be looked at.

Mr. Millan

As the Government are getting from the oil companies quarterly returns of the purchase of supplies of equipment, why cannot these figures be published, and why cannot we know what proportion of that work is coming to Scotland, as many of us believe that the proportion is still far too low?

Mr. Campbell

I am ready to consider publication of any figures of that kind, subject to questions of commercial confidence. On the other hand, I cannot try to provide complete statistics in a situation where it is impossible to do so.

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