§ The Earl of Kimberleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will give a detailed list of (a) civil aircraft; (b) railway engines; and (c) ships, for which money has been provided; and how much in each case, either directly by the nationalised industries or indirectly from public funds, for research, development and testing purposes since 1950.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Viscount Trenchard)Launch aid support under the Civil Aviation Act 1949 for civil aircraft projects since 1950 includes: 1007WA
TOTAL-£105.2 million (approx).
Approximate mid-point of development Contribution at outturn prices (£ million) Ambassador 1951 2 Princess 1951 9 Comet 1.4 1956 10 Viscount 1951 2 V 100 1955 2 (est) Twin Pioneer 1955 0.05 Britannia 1955 6 Rotodyne 1956 3 Argosy 1961 0.1 Herald 1962 1 VC 10 1963 10 Trident 1965 26 BAC 1–11 1965 19 Islander 1968 0.05 Jetstream 1968 1 A. 300B 1968 1 HS 146 1972 7 Shorts SD 330 1975 6 The United Kingdom share of Concorde development costs totalled £574 million, and Concorde programme expenditure at Government research establishments totalled a further £76 million.
Data on other research and development support since 1950 is not readily available, but support under the Science and Technology Act 1965 for civil aeronautical R & D for the period 1971–72 to 1981–82 has totalled £177 million, including £87 million on engines, £63 million on airframes and £27 million on avionics. It is not possible to break these figures down to individual aircraft.
Further support for R & D will have been provided by British Aerospace when a statutory corporation, but details are not readily available.
Data about R & D support to railway engines or ships is not readily available, but expenditure is thought to have been considerably lower than with aircraft.