§ Mr. Matesasked the Secretary of State for Industry what has been the response from industry to the robot support programme operated by his Department.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerSince the programme was launched in April 1981 the Department has approved assistance of £105,000 towards 56 robot consultancy studies; £5.5 million towards 75 projects involving installation of 143 robots; and £2.4 million towards 20 robot manufacturing projects. Just under one third of the robots supported in the robot support programme are of British manufacture. I am encouraged by this response, which shows the growth of both the use and the manufacture of robots in the United Kingdom. I am convinced that more remains to be done. The level of robotics activity in this country is still below that of major international competitors, and I should welcome more applications from industry for this sort of assistance.