§ MR. J. WILLIAMS BENNTo ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in view of the increased accommodation at Devonport, the breaking-up of obsolete ships with dockyard labour and the sale of the materials would yield a better financial result to the Government than the prices realised at recent sales; and whether he is prepared to give the dockyard an opportunity of showing what can be done in this department.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) There is no reason to anticipate that the breaking-up of old vessels in the dockyards would yield a better financial result than selling them by public auction, and it is not proposed to adopt the course suggested.