§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what study has been made of the increased demand upon the services of the Hydrographer which will arise from the UN Law of the Sea Conference.
§ Mr. JuddThe hydrographer keeps under constant study the possibilities for increasing demands on his services arising from the UN Law of the Sea Conference.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence if any representative of the Hydrographer to the Royal Navy has attended the UN Law of the Sea Conferences in a technical capacity; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JuddAs part of the British delegation, an officer on the hydrographer's staff who is expert in territorial waters and related matters is in New York attending the current session of the UN Law of the Sea Conference. The same officer has attended previous sessions of the Conference.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current scale of charges for (a) charts and (b) other services made by the Hydrographer to the Royal Navy; and when this was last revised and by what percentage.
§ Mr. JuddThe present chart prices of £1.80 (basic chart) and £2.50 (Decca chart) date from July 1975; they represent increases of 38 per cent. and 43 per cent. respectively on the previous prices.
The hydrographer also prepares information for certain navigational publications, the prices of which are fixed by Her Majesty's Stationery Office which also receives the revenue from sales.
Various minor services, such as information on the location of wrecks and the
Expenditure in £ million 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 Recurrent costs … 10.9 10.1 9.1 10.5 Capital costs including ships … 3.7 3.0 1.6 1.4
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what payment is made by oil companies for the services to the Hydrographer to the Royal Navy.
284Wprovision of copies of charts of historic interest, produce small revenues; the charges are reviewed at frequent intervals.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Government Departments make use of the services of the hydrographer.
§ Mr. JuddThe services of the hydrographer are used to a greater or lesser extent by a number of Government Departments, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office, Department of the Environment, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Social Security, Department of Trade, Scottish Office, Welsh Office, Northern Ireland Office, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Department of Education and Science and Ministry of Overseas Development.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence when the recommendations of the study groups on the hydrographie services of the Royal Navy, referred to in the statement on Defence Estimates will be published.
§ Mr. JuddA copy of the Hydro-graphic Study Group's report was placed in the Library of the House on 22nd July 1975.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total (a) recurrent and (b) capital cost including ships, of the Hydrographer to the Royal Navy, in 1973, 1974 and 1975, and the comparable estimated costs in 1976, at constant 1975 prices.
§ Mr. JuddThe estimated costs of the Hydrographie Service for financial years 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76 and 1976–77 at constant 1975 Survey prices are as follows:
§ Mr. JuddNone. The current programme of survey for tow out routes for oil platforms is funded by the Department of Energy, who will eventually 285W recover expenditure from those oil companies to whom survey information is supplied.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is now in a position to state what will be the staff requirements of the Hydrographer to the Royal Navy for 1976 and 1977.
§ Mr. JuddNot yet. We still have to complete our consideration of the Hydro-graphic Study Group's report on which the total staff requirement depends.