HC Deb 18 May 1965 vol 712 cc1181-2
2. Mr. van Straubenzee

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what was the purpose of the Minister of State's visit to Malta on 9th-1lth April; and whether he will make a statement.

The Minister of State, Commonwealth Relations Office (Mr. Cledwyn Hughes)

I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Haltemprice (Mr. Wall) on 14th April.

Mr. van Straubenzee

I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman for that reply, but could he possibly add a little to it by reporting whether in his judgment, arising out of his visit, the civilian dockyard is making progress in view of its immense importance to the economy of Malta?

Mr. Hughes

There is another Question on the Order Paper about the civilian dockyard. I shall be replying to that in a few moments.

4. Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what discussions the Minister of State had during his recent visit to Malta on the problems arising from the rundown of the dockyards.

Mr. Cledwyn Hughes

I did not discuss any particular problem relating to the Malta dockyard during my recent visit to Malta. I visited the yard and was much impressed by what had been achieved by the Council of Administration and the managing agents.

Mrs. Short

Is my hon. Friend aware that this is a very serious problem, particularly the unemployment of adult workers expected through the rundown of the dockyards? Will he do everything he can to see that suitable alternative employment is found? That does not mean alternative employment for girls leaving school who are cheap labour, but alternative employment for adult workers so displaced.

Mr. Hughes

Her Majesty's Government are very conscious of what my hon. Friend has said. We are doing all we can to assist in finding alternative sources of employment. The independence settlement payment was a very generous one, £50 million over 10 years. There have been no discharges on redundancy grounds so far. The dockyard administration is trying to work out a system for retraining and redeployment to avoid discharges on account of redundancy.

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