§ Mr. DayTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the Laboratory of the Government Chemist's work for his Department regarding chemical metrology [28844]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorIn the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr. Hargreaves) on 2 April 1996,Official Report, columns 149–50, regarding the sale of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, I stated that LGC will continue to meet the Department's needs as the centre of excellence in chemical metrology. To ensure this, the Department will be guaranteeing work to LGC. The principal element in this will be the major programme in supporting valid analytical measurement—VAM—one of the programmes making up the national measurement system. LGC has acted as main contractor and co-ordinator for VAM since 1988. The Department has committed itself to support this work for a further five years. LGC will also be undertaking other projects, particularly in analytical innovation, biotehnology, and consumer safety, under the DTI's innovation and technology support budget. The 216W total of the guaranteed work to be placed at LGC is £33.5 million over five years. In addition, if the contract referred to in my answer of 2 April is not awarded to the purchaser, the guaranteed workload at LGC will be increased by £750,000 over the five-year period.