HC Deb 03 March 1958 vol 583 cc810-2
2. Mr. Swingler

asked the Minister of Supply what steps have been taken by his Department for the benefit of workers of the Royal Ordnance factories at Radway Green and Swynnerton to organise the production of civil goods.

Mr. Aubrey Jones

The suitability of the equipment at Radway Green for civil work is very limited, but some orders have been obtained and I have every prospect of being able to maintain employment there. As I explained in reply to the hon. Member's Question on 15th July, the Swynnerton Factory is no longer needed for defence purposes and is being closed.

Mr. Swingler

Though good work has been done in finding alternative jobs for many Swynnerton workers, is the Minister aware that many workers in Swynnerton, which we know is being closed down, and Radway Green remain redundant and unable to find jobs, which is causing tension, and will he pursue vigorously, as he promised to do, the placing of contracts by British Railways for Radway Green?

Mr. Jones

I am doing that. The difficulty as far as Swynnerton is concerned, and I am aware of the obstacle, is that the factory is not suitable for the production of civil goods, being, in fact, a filling factory and, therefore, composed of a collection of relatively small hutments.

Sir A. V. Harvey

As an alternative, would my right hon. Friend consider letting out part of the factory to private firms, if they were interested to take up such accommodation, in which to manufacture civil goods?

Mr. Jones

I am not sure to which factory my hon. Friend is referring—

Sir A. V. Harvey

Radway Green.

Mr. Jones

—but I should be happy to do that with regard to any factory where the circumstances are suitable.

4. Mr. Callaghan

asked the Minister of Supply what was the cost of installing the facilities for machining graphite blocks at the Royal Ordnance Factory, Cardiff; to what extent the machines are now idle; and what efforts have been made to ensure that the four groups now constructing nuclear power stations use these facilities.

Mr. Aubrey Jones

The answers to the first two parts of the Question are £32,000 and about 40 per cent., respectively. The expenditure was largely incurred in transferring and adapting machinery which the Department already possessed. The military demand for this work is a fluctuating one and it is desirable to even out the fluctuations with civil work. To this end, my Department is trying to secure orders from the industrial groups to which the hon. Member refers.

Mr. Callaghan

Can the Minister say why these groups have refused to use these facilities? Is it true that they themselves are duplicating facilities? Is the Minister aware that because of this situation a very strong report was circulating in Cardiff at the weekend that the Royal Ordnance Factory there is to be closed down? Will he please reassure us about this and indicate once again that there is no intention of closing down this factory?

Mr. Jones

I do not think it is right to say that the industrial consortia have refused all offers in this respect. Negotiations are still in progress. For my part, I should welcome the placing of orders here, and I should certainly deprecate the duplication of facilities which are already in existence.

Mr. Callaghan

Will the right hon. Gentleman answer the second part of my question?

Mr. Jones

As I understand it, the second part of the question referred not to the atomic part of the Royal Ordnance Factory but to the wider field. The facts as they now stand do not warrant the suggestion made by the hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Callaghan

It was not made by me.