§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many vehicles and at what value were purchased by(a) his Department and (b) other public sector agencies for which he is responsible, in 1988; and how many of these vehicles were British-made within the defintion of British as set out by the Department of Trade and Industry in its arrangement on content with the European Community.
§ Mr. CopeThe following table gives the information requested for the calendar year 1988:
Number Cost £ Employment Department 19 139,795 Employment Service 70 473,912 Training Agency 20 136,831 Health and Safety Executive 14 106,486 Total 123 857,024 Of these, 25 vehicles were definitely United Kingdom-produced, on the definition, employed by the DTI for statistical purposes, under which a vehicle is classified as United Kingdom-produced if the United Kingdom content exceeds 50 per cent. of the ex-works value. A further 95 vehicles comprised models of multinational companies which are manufactured both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. It would be possible to determine how many were United Kingdom-produced only by individual inspection of each vehicle.
The selection and purchase of vehicles in the Department is normally restricted to European Community made or assembled vehicles.