Mr. Andy Stewartasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the setting up of a committee of inquiry into the handling of geographic information in the United Kingdom, as agreed in the Government's response to the first report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology on "Remote Sensing and Digital Mapping", Cmnd. 9320.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe committee of inquiry has now been established. Its terms of reference are:232W
To advise the Secretary of State for the Environment within two years on the future handling of geographic information in the United Kingdom, taking account of modern developments in information technology and of markets needs".I am pleased to announced that Lord Chorley has been appointed as chairman of the committee, and Mr. Walter Smith, who retires in March from his present position as director general of the Ordnance Survey, is to be deputy chairman. The remaining members of the committee will be appointed shortly and the committee will begin its work in April.