§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will make a statement on the rôle his Committee for Industrial Technologies will play in the new industrial strategy.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe rôle of the Committee for Industrial Technologies will continue to be to advise me on how best to secure the benefits to industry achievable through the application of the multi-disciplinary techniques known as industrial technologies.
The first of the industrial technologies to be launched, tribology, is now firmly established; those currently being sponsored by my Department are materials handling, corrosion technology and terotechnology.
The committee advances the industrial technologies in various ways, two of the more important being the influencing of 50W education and training and the setting up of national advisory services. The former lays the foundation for the adoption of sound industrial practice in the long term; the latter afford more immediate guidance.
Centres for tribology and materials handling have been in existence for some time and are extensively used; newer services have been introduced this year for terotechnology under the auspices of the Electrical Research Association at Leatherhead and for corrosion technology at the Department's National Physical Laboratory, Teddington.
The industrial technologies afford the means of effecting large improvements in industrial efficiency, and they are certainly seen to have a place in the Government's industrial strategy.
I value the work of the Committee for Industrial Technologies and look forward to its continued advice and support.