Mr. Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the contracts given by his Ministry in the years 1980 to 1985 in relation to tyres for defence equipment; whether these tyres were for road vehicles, aircraft or for other purposes; and if he will specify the country of manufacture of the tyres purchased and outline the criteria for tender which may give advantage to British tyre production.
§ Mr. LeeThe companies awarded contracts by my Ministry in relation to tyres for defence equipment are listed below. Records are not readily available for 1980 but the 1986 contracts have already been placed and these are therefore included.
411WIn fact however about 75 per cent. by value of MOD's vehicle tyre offtake over the six-year period has been of United Kingdom manufacture, with other EEC countries supplying 20 per cent. and Scandinavia, United States of America, Morocco, Austria, Canada and the Far East, in descending order, sharing the remaining 5 per cent. In the period up to an including 1985 all the aircraft tyres purchased were manufactured in United Kingdom but Goodyear have advised that, for commercial considerations, requirements for 1986 and beyond will be met mainly from their plants in Europe.