§ 49. Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will now make a statement about monitoring procedures of the Concorde project as requested in the Sixth Report from the Expenditure Committee.
§ Mr. OnslowI have nothing to add to the reply given by my hon. Friend238W the Minister for Aerospace to the hon. Members for Newark (Mr. Bishop) and Pontypridd (Mr. John) on 31st July.
§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the amount of subcontracting to French suppliers of the United Kingdom Concorde; and to what extent late deliveries are a cause of production expenditure on the United Kingdom Concorde being less than the production expenditure levels in France.
§ Mr. Michael HeseltineAs I informed the right hon. Member on 31st July, production expenditure on Concorde is running at comparable levels in both countries. The present United Kingdom production commitment of £75 million includes about £3 million for orders placed upon French subcontractors.
§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what perceived noise decibel levels the production Concorde aircraft will be quieter than the prototypes as a result of the technical development in progress.
§ Mr. Michael HeseltineA precise estimate is not possible. But the indications are that Concorde should achieve noise levels similar to existing aircraft such as the VC10, Boeing 707 and DC8.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether it is the intention of the Government to continue financing Concorde through Section 8 of the Industrial Expansion Act, 1968, or whether it is their intention to make use of the broader facilities provided by Clause 8 of the Industry Bill.
§ Mr. Michael HeseltineAs I informed the House on 21st July, 1972, the present limit on Concorde production finance will almost certainly have to be raised in the future. I am considering presenting a separate Bill to the House for powers to meet the longer-term financing requirements.