§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much dispersant the marine pollution control unit keeps in stock expressed in(a) value in £ sterling, (b) weight and (c) volume; what were the stocks in each of the last five years; and what was the capital expenditure of the unit for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe marine pollution control unit—MPCU—current dispersant stock expressed in(a) value (b) weight and (c) volume is as follows:
(a) value £1.68 million (b) weight 1,680 tonnes (c) volume 1,680 cubic metres Further stocks are in the course of supply to maintain the level of about 1,800 tonnes which has been held for the last five years.
Total capital expenditure by the MPCU, including the purchase of dispersant, for each of the last five years is as follows:
Year £,000 1986–87 282 1987–88 130 1988–89 215 1989–90 333 1990–91 397
§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the contingency fund(a) held and (b) expended for oil spill recovery for the last five years.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe Department has Treasury approval to spend whatever it deems reasonable to deal with a major pollution threat and there are arrangements for calling on the contingencies reserve as necessary. This is represented by a token provision of £1,000 in the Department's annual estimates.
Expenditure on dealing with oil spills in each of the last five years is as follows:
£ thousands 1986–87 0 1987–88 10 1988–89 62 1989–90 168 1990–91 715 The figures for 1989–90 and 1990–91 include £29,000 and £200,000 respectively for the deployment of MPCU oil recovery equipment and hire and deployment of supplementary oil spill recovery resources. Reimbursement of all of this expenditure has been obtained, or is being sought, from the polluters.