§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Industry what action has been taken to remedy the shortage of medium-term finance in the scientific instruments sector of industry.
Mr. Alan WilliamsThe product and process development scheme announced recently offers support for the development of new products and is open to companies in the scientific instrument sector. In addition, a scheme of assistance for the automation and instrumentation sector is likely to be introduced in the near future. These measures should go a considerable way to alleviate any shortage of medium-term finance for this sector of industry.