§ Mr. Parkasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has yet completed his consideration of the Policy Studies Institute's report published in March on microelectronics uptake; and if he will make a statement on its conclusion that half of Great Britain's factories are not planning to use microelectronics in their products or processes.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThe Policy Studies Institute's recent report on "Microelectronics in British Industry: The Pattern of Change" updates its study in 1981 and therefore provides a helpful measure of the pace of industry's adoption of this vital technology. The new study shows that between 1981 and 1983 the proportion of factories in Britain (with 20 or more employees) that were using or planning to use microelectronics in their products or processes rose from 30 per cent. to 47 per cent. and the proportion seeing no scope for such applications fell from 42 per cent. to 34 per cent. These changes denote impressive progress, and I am encouraged by the report's favourable findings on the level of awareness and appreciation of my Department's microelectronics application project. However, the report also shows that many firms, predominantly small ones in more traditional sectors, still had no plans to use microelectronics. We are continuing our efforts through MAP, increasingly targeted on such firms, with the objective of maintaining the accelerated take-up found by the institute's studies.