§ 2. Mr. Loydenasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many ship repair contracts his Department has let for the years 1975, 1976 and 1977 in (a) the North-West Region, (b) the North-East Region, (c) Scotland, (d) the South-East Region and (e) the South-West Region.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy (Mr. A. E. P. Duffy)With permission, Mr. Speaker, I will arrange for this information to be published in the Official Report as it involves a lengthy table of figures.
§ Mr. LoydenI thank my hon. Friend for the information and the fact that it 1091 will be published. Is he aware of the plight of the Merseyside ship repairing industry? I recognise that this is not a responsibility exclusively for his Department, but does he agree that there ought to be a quota for the sharing of work in the regions? The facts and figures indicate the need for this.
§ Mr. DuffyYes, I am aware of the position on Merseyside and of the anxiety expressed by my hon. Friend, not merely on this occasion but on previous occasions when he has led a deputation to the Ministry of Defence and has corresponded with me.
My hon. Friend will be aware of the recent Type 42 destroyer contract placed with Cammell Laird. In terms of the value of contracts placed, if not the number of contracts, over the period covered by the Question, his region—the North-West—has done better than any other, with the exception of the North-East.
§ Following is the information:
| TABLE 1 | ||||
| Region | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 (to 30th June 1977) | |
| North-West | … | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| North-East | … | 16 | 21 | 8 |
| Scotland | … | Nil | Nil | Nil |
| South-East | … | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| South-West | … | 2 | 5 | Nil |
§ The figures above exclude small contracts for the repair of minor vessels and craft which are placed in the areas where these craft operate because it would not be economical, for the amount of work required, to move them to other areas.
§ The number of such contracts is as follows:—
| TABLE 2 | ||||
| Region | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 (to 30th June 1977) | |
| North-West | … | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| North-East | … | Nil | 2 | Nil |
| Scotland | … | 39 | 35 | 17 |
| South-East | … | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| South-West | … | 8 | 4 | 6 |