§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions regarding the change in the North sea fiscal regime have been conducted with PILOT since the announcement of the 2002 Budget. [59386]
§ Mr. WilsonA number of discussions have taken place with the industry since the Budget of 17 April. Most recently, on 22 May, I met with industry representatives from PILOT to hear their views on the Budget 2002 changes.
Further discussions will take place at the PILOT meeting in June.
§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how PILOT's stated goals are likely to be affected by the change in the North sea fiscal regime. [59387]
§ Mr. WilsonPILOT, the joint Government/industry forum, has an extensive action programme to improve the industry's competitiveness. It is pursuing a number of visionary targets for 2010 and last year set the interim production and investment targets for 2005. I expect PILOT to continue to monitor progress against these targets. The fiscal regime is one of many influences affecting the success of the industry meeting them. Further discussions on the vision targets will take place at future PILOT meetings.