asked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Christchurch and Lymington,Official Report, 7th November, column 145, what is the difference in the technology offered to his Department by Oil Recovery International of Christchurch, Dorset, and Oil Mop Incorporated of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.(2) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Christchurch and Lymington,
Official Report, 7th. November, column
145, with which individuals of his Department conducted negotiations in dealing with the subsidiary of Oil Mop Incorporated.
I understand that the insurers of the "Eleni V," on the advice of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, contracted with OMI Ltd. to supply and operate, with the agreement of Waveney district council, the "Oil Mop" devices in question off North Lowestoft beach. The Government were not involved in the negotiation of this contract.The devices available from Oil Mop (UK) Ltd. and from OMI Ltd. are based on very much the same technological principles. They are suitable for use close inshore in sheltered waters: consequently, my Department, which is responsible for dealing with oil at sea, is unlikely to have occasion to make use of them.
asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether his Department has been in negotiation with any former Government employees concerning the oil mop device.
The Warren Spring Laboratory, which acts as my Department's scientific and technical advisers on oil pollution matters, has evaluated the
| IDENTIFIABLE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE† PER HEAD, BY SECTOR(current prices) | |||||||
| 1976–77 | 1977–78* | ||||||
| England | Scotland | Wales | England | Scotland | Wales | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Central Government | … | 451 | 586 | 576 | 508 | 654 | 681 |
| Local authorities | … | 282 | 332 | 283 | 294 | 363 | 286 |
| Certain public corporations | … | 17 | 24 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 17 |
| Total | … | 750 | 942 | 875 | 817 | 1,037 | 984 |
| * Provisional. | |||||||
| † Identifiable public expenditure excludes debt interest and expenditure on defence and overseas services, which is incurred on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole, and is expenditure which can be identified from official records as having been incurred in a particular country. The extent to which expenditure can be identified varies between countries and from year to year and the coverage of the figures may therefore vary even where similar services are being provided. The figures otherwise use the definitions of "The Government's Expenditure Plans. 1978–79 to 1981–82", (Cmnd. 7049). | |||||||