§ 17. Mr. Boydenasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty on how many occasions since the publication of the Estimates Committee Report on Her Majesty's Dockyards inspecting teams of experts have been sent overseas to prepare inspection reports on ships due for dockyard refits.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingOnce to the Mediterranean and once to the Indian Ocean.
§ Mr. BoydenShould not more of this be done? Did not the Permanent Secretary say in the Public Accounts Committee that shortage of staff was one of the difficulties? Surely after operational requirements this sort of requirement, which would save money in the dockyards and make for better planning, Should be given very high priority.
§ Mr. Orr-EwingI absolutely agree. The Report was published only in July. There have been only four cases of ships coming back from overseas since then to two of which we have sent an inspecting officer. Ships coming back from home service are much more easily and invariably inspected.