§ Mr. WatersonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has received the report of the review of the Royal Observatories; and if he will make a statement. [26724]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorI have received the report of the review steering committee chaired by Professor Ian Halliday of the university of Wales, Swansea. Its central recommendation is that the management of United Kingdom telescopes and the delivery of the instrumentation programme currently provided by the Royal Observatories should be subject to competitive tendering by all competent suppliers. I have accepted in full the review's conclusions and recommendations, which have been endorsed by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. I have asked PPARC to take forward implementation of the recommendations. I have today published the review steering committee's advice to me and have placed a copy in the Library of the House.