§ Mr. Adleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is prepared to bring forward legislation to provide for the advantageous participation in oil revenues of local communities in England, similar to those enjoyed by certain communities in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett:No. The Government's proposals on the broad areas into which oil revenues should be channelled are set out in the Challenge of North Sea Oil White Paper—Cmnd. 7143. As the White Paper points out, the Government concluded that any system of prior allocation of oil revenues was not practicable. The Government will be reporting annually to Parliament on the benefits of North Sea oil revenues.