§ Mr. Cleggasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what plans the Land and Natural Resources Department of his Department have to survey the sea bed surrounding the United Kingdom for minerals other than oil or natural gas.
§ Mr. WilleyNone. The Department is concerned in this connection mainly with the arrangements for seeing that sufficient sand and gravel bearing land is available, with due regard to housing, amenity and other needs, to the sand and gravel operators to enable them to meet the requirements of industry. I understand that a number of these operators are already obtaining gravel from the sea under licence from the Crown Commissioners, to whom they supply information obtained from their work. I understand also that the Institute of Geological Sciences, which is responsible, through the Natural Environment Research Council, to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science, have well-advanced plans for making geological investigations of the Continental Shelf round our islands. To this end a considerable amount of airborne geophysical surveying work has already been carried out.