HC Deb 26 February 1973 vol 851 cc1054-5
20. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further plans he has for transferring to Scotland divisions within his Department concerning North Sea oil and gas resources.

The Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Peter Emery)

As my right hon. Friend announced on 16th January, a branch of the Petroleum Division will be put in Glasgow to work alongside the new Scottish Petroleum Office. We have no plans for transferring complete divisions to Scotland to work on North Sea oil, but recruitment of further inspectors is taking place to enable permanent postings to be made to this branch.

Mr. Hamilton

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that that simply is not good enough? Can he tell us how many civil servants, when these proposed operations are completed, will be in Scotland engaged in the problems of North Sea oil and how many will be situated in London? As the great proportion of North Sea oil is around the shores and coasts of Scotland, would it not be much better and more defensible if the whole operation now engaged in in London within the divisions of the hon. Gentleman's Department were moved to Scotland?

Mr. Emery

The main factor for Scotland is to ensure that the OSO and the Petroleum Division can get as much business and as many orders for Scottish industry as possible. What the hon. Gentleman must accept is that the chief supply industries, the financial institutions and those placing the orders on the whole have their headquarters in London, and we can do nothing to make them go to Scotland. Therefore, we are trying to gain positions for both Scotland and London to the benefit not only of Scotland but of the whole of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Eadie

But the hon. Gentleman must know that he cannot get away with that answer. He must be aware that, when he visited Scotland with Mr. Gibson in his attempt to defend the office there, the Press that weekend gave him a terrible battering. His arguments were described as unconvincing and specious. How many administrative jobs will this process mean for Scotland?

Mr. Emery

That is a slightly different question from the one on the Order Paper. But one of the things which I noticed in the criticism of me was that the Scottish Press refused to accept that it was beneficial to the whole of Britain that the oil capital of the world, not because of us but because of factors outside the United Kingdom, was more and more becoming London rather than anywhere else, whether it be Brussels, New York or the Middle East. That will be beneficial to the United Kingdom as a whole.