§ Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many public works contracts have been put out to tender in the EEC under the Council directives; how many have been accepted from non-British firms; and what is the average delay between going out to tender and acceptance.
§ Mr. FreesonIn accordance with the requirements of EEC Directive 71/305, 2,356 public sector works contracts have been advertised in the Official Journal of the EEC up to 31st March 1976, by United Kingdom contract-awarding authorities. Complete information about the response from other member-nation firms is not available; but I am not aware of any contract placed up to 31st December 1975 as a result of this procedure with a company operating from any other EEC country. There is no evidence that compliance has resulted in any delay between the issue of tenders and acceptance.