§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the(a) locations, (b) running costs,(c) salary costs and (d) total Government financial assistance to the British National Space Centre. [36235]
§ Mrs. Beckett[holding answer 27 March 1998]: The British National Space Centre (BNSC), located at 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London, leads a partnership of Government Departments and research councils. The centre's direct running costs are funded as follows:
£000 Running Costs Staff Costs DTI 277 1,179 MOD 12 129 Meteorological Office 8 15 Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council 40 102 Natural Environment Research Council 12 52 BNSC co-ordinates civil space expenditure by the partnership estimated in 1997–98 at £200 million. Approximately two-thirds of this expenditure supports European Space Agency programmes.