§ Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the budget of the Institute of Geological Sciences for the current financial year; and what percentage of this is being spent on the geological investigation of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.
§ Mrs. ThatcherThe capital and recurrent budget for the Institute of Geological Sciences in the present year is £3.3 million, of which approximately 15 per cent. is being spent directly on geological investigation of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.
In addition, the National Environment Research Council has awarded grants to eleven university groups for research in this field.
The council's research vessels provide sea-going support for these programmes.