§ 33. Mr. Gallacherasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that 150 men, employed by Alexander Stephens and Company, lost two days' work during last week after travelling to a certain part of the Clyde through the 1371 failure of his Department to supply water transport to convey them to the job; and what steps he has taken to prevent future occurrences of this sort?
Mr. AlexanderI am afraid the answer is a little long. The hon. Member appears to have been misinformed. The facts are that on 12th October a vessel under repair by the firm mentioned was removed to another part of the river for dry docking in a floating dock. It was decided that during the day the vessel was on passage and was being dry docked, the repair party could be better employed on other work, but the men, numbering about 150, were instructed to join the floating dock on the morning of 13th October to proceed with the repairs to the vessel. Owing to stress of weather the vessel could not be docked on 12th October, and because of a temporary breakdown in communications, due to the same cause, it was not possible to countermand the instructions to the men before they left work on 12th October. They were, however, informed the following morning at the railway station that the vessel had not docked, that the repair work on the vessel could not therefore proceed, and that they should return to the firm's yard. About 50 of the men did not follow their instructions, and proceeded to the vicinity of the floating dock, where they were properly refused permission to board the ferry boat. They then returned to the firm's yard, where they resumed work on the afternoon of 13th October. The remaining 100 men carried out the instructions given to them. I am quite satisfied about the adequacy of the water transport on the Clyde.