§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will seek to increase his Department's allocation for research into oil pollution control methods in the next financial year.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade announced the conclusions of our review of the contingency arrangements for dealing with oil pollution in a Written Answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Wainwright) on 2nd August. We are considering the need for further research on some aspects of the techniques available for dealing with oil pollution as part of the follow-up work to that review, but it is too soon to form a judgment on the appropriate380W scale of the oil pollution research and development programme as a whole for 1979–80.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the annual amount allocated by his Department for research into oil pollution control methods.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisThe Warren Spring laboratory, which acts as our scientific and technical advisers on methods of dealing with oil pollution, expects to spend some £600,000 in 1978–79 on research and development in this field, including methods of dealing with oil in inshore waters and on beaches. Virtually the whole of this expenditure is financed from Exchequer funds.