§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, since the Council directive 77/62/EEC came into effect on 1st July 1978, which requires all public service contracts with more than 200,000 European units of account, approximately 717W £130,000, to be advertised, how many open and restricted tenders have been advertised by Her Majesty's Government; how many have been advertised by other EEC countries, open and restricted, and if he will list these, country by country; what is the value of the United Kingdom contracts and what is the value of the contracts advertised by other EEC countries, country by country; how many con-tracts have been awarded outside of the United Kingdom and to which countries; when legislation in Western Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland will be finalised; what action is being taken by the EEC Commission to ensure that this directive is complied with; and if, in the meantime, Her Majesty's Government will give up advertising these contracts until other countries come into line in view of the damage which will be caused to the textile industry by so doing.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettI will let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.