§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Energy what proportion of the 81 per cent. of the North Sea oil contracts placed in the United Kingdom represent value added within the United Kingdom in the years 1979, 1980 and 1981.
§ Mr. Gray[pursuant to his reply, 8 March 1981, c. 292]: The share of contracts placed in the United Kingdom has never in fact reached 81 per cent. In 1979 and 1980 the United Kingdom share was 79 per cent. and 71 per cent. respectively. The 1981 figure will be published in due course in the Secretary of State's annual report to Parliament.
These figures represent, as far as is possible at the time main orders are placed, the nett benefit of contracts to United Kingdom based industry—i.e. with planned major foreign contributions excluded. It is not possible to provide a detailed measure of United Kingdom value added because of timing and resource problems.