§ Mr. PageTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether his plans have advanced for the relocation of the Patent Office.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAs I told the House on 10 December 1987Official Report, column 239, I have been examining the possibility of relocating the Patent Office to Cardiff or Newport. In consultation with my colleagues, the Secretaries of State for Wales and for the Environment I have decided that Newport should be the preferred location, on a site already occupied there by the business statistics office, which is a division of my Department. The trade marks branch of the Patent Office opened an examining group on the Newport site on 3 February, as the first phase of the relocation. The move of the rest of the office, except for a modest public office which will remain in London, will take about three years and I estimate that at least 500 jobs will be created locally.