HC Deb 28 June 1976 vol 914 c47W
Mr. Sillars

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of expected oil revenues he expects to see invested in British industry.

Mr. Joel Barnett

The Government are determined that the expected North Sea Oil revenues shall not be dissipated on short-term increases in consumption, and intend to ensure that a large part of them is devoted to restructuring British industry in the 1980s. Given the uncertainties that must always exist in planning for the future, the Government have not attempted to set a target for the proportion of oil revenues they will wish to see invested in British industry.

The United Kingdom's foreign debt is extremely large—in part because of the increase in the price of oil in late 1973—and, over the next decade, a share of oil revenues will have to be used to pay off at least part of that debt.

The Government are taking measures to encourage productive investment, and it would not wish to see these measures limited arbitrarily to the level that can be financed by oil revenues.