§ 47. Sir T. Mooreasked the Minister of Supply what is the number of Royal Ordnance Factories to be retained for the manufacture of armaments, the number to be devoted to the manufacture of civilian requirements, and the number of workers employed, or to be employed, in each of the respective categories.
§ The Minister of Supply (Mr. John Wilmot)Twenty-two Royal Ordnance Factories are at present retained, all primarily on production for the Services and as a reserve of armament capacity. Civil work is undertaken at any of the factories where suitable capacity is available. There are now about 40,000 workers, of whom over 40 per cent. are on civil work. Future distribution of employment will depend on Service and civil demands.
§ Sir T. MooreCan the right hon. Gentleman say what steps he is taking to ensure that those factories switched over to civil production shall afford the same volume of employment to the workers concerned as they previously enjoyed when working under the Government?
§ Mr. WilmotNo factory is wholly switched over to civil employment, but where the plant is suitable the spare capacity is taken up by civilian orders.