§ 18. Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken to promote the case for a United Kingdom centre for drilling technology to be set up in Scotland.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe Scottish Office was represented on the interdepartmental working party which recommended the establishment of such a centre. I am ensuring that, in the further discussions to be held between Departments and the Petroleum Industry Training Board, the case for locating the proposed centre in Scotland will be kept under full consideration.
§ Mr. DalyellWhat is the time scale involved?
§ Mr. CampbellThe meeting should take place within the next few weeks.
§ Mr. Laurance ReedDo the Government understand that projects like Concorde, Maplin and the Channel Tunnel pale into insignificance compared with the urgency of digging up the Continental Shelf for oil? Is it yet understood that, if we are to do this rapidly, the Government will have to back technology in this field as handsomely as in the case of other projects?
§ Mr. CampbellI think it is generally agreed that the programme of exploring for oil and extracting it from the North Sea bed is one which the Government have encouraged and is going on speedily. There was a recommendation in the report of the working party it is paragraph C.49—that there should be further discussions on where and how a centre for this technology should be set up. In my view, there is a very strong case for this to be in Scotland.
§ Mr. DouglasWill the right hon. Gentleman acknowledge that there are 1329 considerable sums involved in terms of anticipation of royalties and revenue? Is he aware that a conservative estimate is that the sum might be £1,200 million per annum by 1985? Will he say how much lie and his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science will devote to this very important area of educational research?
§ Mr. CampbellIt is not possible to make estimates so far ahead as the date which the hon. Gentleman has mentioned. They naturally depend upon the tax rates at the time and their impact on the companies concerned. As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, no royalties start to come until the oil starts to flow.
On the question of education, as I have said there is a very strong case, without going into the question of future royalties, for a centre of this kind to be established in Scotland.
§ Mr. Robert HughesWill the right hon. Gentleman give a commitment that money will be spent now on these developments? It is no use waiting until the royalties come. We need action now if we are to get any benefit from educational prospects.
§ Mr. CampbellIt is not a question of money. It is a question of the setting up of the centre. As I have said, the recommendation in paragraph C.49 of the working party's report—and the Scottish Office was represented in that working party—was that there should be further discussions, including the Petroleum Industry Training Board, and these will be taking place in the very near future.