---

UK Hydrographic Office

That is a good point. I am vigilant in terms of trying to ensure that public spending is as efficient as possible. If the hon. Gentleman does not mind, I hope to cover that point later in my speech. The Hydrographic Office provides not only hundreds of skilled jobs, but a wide variety of jobs. Most hon. Members would accept that those who hold the maintenance and cleaning positions will not want to relocate or to commute a long distance. Furthermore, the Hydrographic Office is based in east Taunton, where it is surrounded by estates such as Halcon, Lambrook and the Lane, which are some of the poorest parts of Somerset. For those jobs to be available within walking distance of those people’s homes is an important stimulus to wealth creation in east Taunton. It has been suggested that people who live in Taunton will be able to commute, because Exeter is only 35 miles down the M5. I accept that a lot of the senior people would choose to commute in those circumstances, but a lot of the junior people would not. A lot of the people in the lower paid jobs at the Hydrographic Office would not think a 70-mile round trip each day either affordable or desirable, so those jobs would be filled by people who live in Exeter rather than by people who live in Taunton. Furthermore, the commuters would eventually retire and be replaced by people who would move not to Taunton, but to Exeter. Over time, those 1,000 jobs would be whittled away until Taunton derives no economic benefit from having previously had the Hydrographic Office. We are hearing more from the Government about global warming and the need to reduce car use, which is sensible, so it seems perverse that one of the arguments for moving the service is that people will be able to drive considerable distances to get there.