§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) whether he has required British Telecom to cancel any orders;
(2) what are the cash limits for British Telecom; and how they are operated;
(3) to what extent British Telecom can borrow funds in the private sector market place, inside and outside cash limits; and to what extent this is currently being done and will be done in the future.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallI shall reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Industry what are British Telecom's investment plans; and what powers he has over these plans.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallBritish Telecom plans to expand the telecommunications network to meet growing consumer demand, and to modernise it through the continued introduction of electronic and digital switching equipment, and digital transmission equipment. It also plans to invest to improve service quality; to meet requirements for the transmission of data in written form; and to supply telephones and other attachments to the network. Investment expenditure of about £1900 million is planned in 1981–82.
Under section 11 of the Post Office Act 1969, the Post Office—of which British Telecom is at present part—is required to act in accordance with a general programme settled from time to time with my right hon. Friend when carrying out any work that involves a substantial outlay on capital account.