HC Deb 21 November 1991 vol 199 cc261-2W
Mr. Squire

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what changes he expects to make in the future operation of the Offshore Supplies Office.

Mr. Wakeham

I have reviewed the future role of the Offshore Supplies Office—OSO—in the light of the present stage of development of the offshore supplies industry and the challenges facing it in the 1990s. The OSO's principal tasks will remain unchanged—promotion of fair commercial opportunity in all oil and gas markets, support for the development of the latest technologies and promotion of United Kingdom exports. It will have a major role in supporting EC initiatives for the creation of open and commercially fair markets. Open and commercially fair markets are crucial to the continued success of the United Kingdom offshore oil and gas field supplies industry. That industry is now mature, however, and firmly established at home. I take the view, therefore, that the detailed monitoring of orders for the United Kingdom continental shelf is no longer necessary and that the OSO should no longer be charged with this task. I shall continue to report

Unaccompanied1 minors2 seeking asylum on their arrival in the United Kingdom, and granted temporary admission, by nationality
1990 1991
November December January February March April May June July August September October
Afghanistan 2 2
Angola 1 1 3 1
Bangladesh 1
Ethiopia 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 1
Ghana 1
Somalia 2 2 2 1 1 1 4 4
Sri Lanka 7 1 8 2 2 6 9 4 4 4 9 9
Turkey 1 2 1 1 1
Uganda 1
Yugoslavia —. 1
Zaire 1 1
TOTAL 16 5 12 8 3 10 15 8 8 12 10 15
1 Unaccompanied at the point of their arrival.
2 Aged 16 or under.

to Parliament, in my annual report on the development of the oil and gas resources of the United Kingdom, on the progress of the supplies industry. But I plan to give new emphasis to its success in overseas markets, in place of the present analysis of orders placed for the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.