§ Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what monitoring is provided in Scotland to the quarterly or monthly reports demanded from the oil companies by the Department of Trade and Industry on details of their contracts and the proportions won by Scottish firms.
§ Mr. Anthony GrantI have been asked to reply.
Many major contracts for offshore supplies have been won by Scottish firms. Because of the large amount of detailed work involved in tracing individual orders back to the place of manufacture it is not practicable to identify from the quarterly returns the proportion of the total that represents business won by Scottish firms, but the Scottish Petroleum Office will pursue Scottish matters arising from the returns.
§ Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from Scottish firms to the effect that they have been prevented unfairly from competing for orders in the North Sea oil industry; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Anthony GrantI have been asked to reply.
There are no complete records of all the queries and complaints that have been made on this subject since exploration and development began on the United 338W Kingdom Continental Shelf. Two specific cases have, however, been identified. In one, the company concerned agreed that it did not wish the complaint to be pressed; in the other the complaint proved premature, as invitations to tender had not at the time been issued.