§ Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what will be the estimated saving on the balance of payments of 75 million tons of oil produced from the North Sea by 1980.
§ Mr. EmeryIt is impossible to make an estimate with any accuracy, because of the many variables involved including the future price of oil, but the saving to the current account should be several hundreds of millions of pounds by 1980.
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§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the recent visit to Scotland by one of his Ministers in the company of the recently appointed Director of the Department of Trade and Industry Offshore Supplies Office with a view to discussing opportunities of offshore oil and gas discoveries present in Scotland.
§ Mr. EmeryI visited Scotland on 9th February and I was accompanied by the Director of the Offshore Supplies Office. The purpose of the visit was to discuss with both sides of industry ways of maximising the benefits from offshore oil and gas developments. In the course of discussions with both the Scottish TUC and
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATES APPROVED (SCHEMES OF 15,000 SQ. FT. AND OVER) 1970 Number Area Estimated Additional Employment* '000 sq. ft. Northern Region … … … 130 7,359 15,389 Yorkshire and Humberside … … … 149 6,414 7,807 East Midlands … … … 134 4,862 5,459 East Anglia … … … 68 2,107 2,938 South East … … … 447 16,277 21,061 South West … … … 107 4,421 6,879 Wales … … … 104 7,322 13,314 West Midlands … … … 177 6,451 5,395 North West … … … 231 12,760 14,805 Scotland … … … 130 9,870 9,835
1971 Number Area Estimated Additional Employment '000 sq. ft. Northern Region … … … 81 4,249 4,459 Yorkshire and Humberside … … … 122 4,354 4,966 East Midlands … … … 94 3,840 4,810 East Anglia … … … 63 2,361 3,041 South East … … … 367 14,779 19,157 South West … … … 74 3,021 4,452 Wales … … … 57 2,668 4,566 West Midlands … … … 123 4,623 3,545 North West … … … 149 6,735 6,030 Scotland … … … 126 7,847 12,679 328W
1972† Number Area Estimated Additional Employment '000 sq. ft. Northern Region … … … 38 1,619 3,108 Yorkshire and Humberside … … … 185 9,451 11,882 East Midlands … … … 135 5,141 5,789 East Anglia … … … 97 3,698 3,912 South East … … … 404 16,097 16,162 South West … … … 94 3,478 3,090 Wales … … … 46 2,763 3,051 West Midlands … … … 184 8,408 9,395 North West … … … 216 9,729 11,144 Scotland … … … 90 6,652 7,938 * Jobs estimated by the applicants to arise when the projects are complete and fully manned. † In July 1972 industrial development certificate control was abolished in the development and special development areas. Scottish industrialists a number of suggestions were made and consideration is being given as to how and whether these ideas should be acted upon.