§ 45. Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is his estimate of expenditure by the Government on research and development and scientific and technological projects outside the United Kingdom in the current year; how much of this will be on European Economic Community research and development projects; and how this compares with 1980, five years ago and 10 years ago.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallAt current prices, the gross Government current expenditure for overseas extra-mural research and development was:
Financial year Expenditure £ million 1968–69 37.0 1973–74 60.4 1978–79 164.2 Figures for 1980 and 1981 are not yet available.
It is not possible to provide estimates of the United Kingdom Government's share of expenditure on European Economic Community research and development programme which currently runs at about £170 million per annum.