§ Sir David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his Department's planned expenditure on research and development for 1987–88; and what are the main areas of research selected by his Department under the Rothschild principles of the customer-contractor relationship.
§ Mr. ButcherMy Department plans to spend £415 million in support of research and development in 1987–88.
Of this total, £44 million is for the running of the Department's four research establishments, the National Physical Laboratory, the National Engineering Laboratory, the Laboratory of the Government Chemist and the Warren Spring Laboratory, where the customer-contractor principle helps to direct work undertaken on a number of industrially relevant subjects.
The remainder of the Department's expenditure will support R and D across a range of industrial sectors with the largest shares being accounted for by information technology and advanced electronics and aerospace.