§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the cost of setting part A of the engineers second class examinations for the Merchant Navy in 1975; what is the cost currently; if the current cost covers each of the four subjects of part A; and, if only examination is being set, if he will consider reducing the cost.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisThe fee for sitting part A of the marine engineer officer's second class certificate examination or any part of it was £6.75 in 1975 and is £28.50 now.
In view of the fact that the number of papers actually taken does not significantly affect the cost of providing the examinations and that this cost is not fully recovered from fees, it is not considered justifiable to reduce the fee where only part of the examination is taken.