§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in the Official Report the percentage of the annual defence budget that is to be devoted to contracts given to small firms that employ a maximum of 250 people.
§ Dr. GilbertI regret that the information requested is not readily available.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had concerning proposals to increase the percentage of defence contracts that go to small businesses.
§ Dr. GilbertI have no reason to suppose that small businesses do not have every chance of obtaining a fair share of defence orders either directly or as subsidiary suppliers or subcontractors.