§ Mr. David Howellasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will state the total expenditure on microcircuits by his Department during the first nine months of the year ending 31st March, 1968, showing the value of the orders which went to British manufacturers.
§ Mr. MasonI cannot provide this information as microcircuits are component parts of particular electronic equipments and are not normally purchased separately by my Department. It would require considerable time and effort to identify the equipments concerned and to assess the overall value of the microcircuitry incorporated in them.
However, information immediately available indicates that the bulk of microcircuits incorporated in defence equipment are of British manufacture.