British Shipbuilders (Hansard, 15 January 1979)

§ 1. Mr. Grylls
asked the Secretary of State for Industry when he plans next to meet the chairman of British Shipbuilders.

§ 17. Mr. Arnold
asked the Secretary of State for Industry when he plans to meet the chairman of British Shipbuilders.

§ The Minister of State, Department of Industry (Mr. Gerald Kaufman)
My right hon. Friend meets the chairman regularly.

§ Mr. Grylls
When the Minister meets the chairman of British Shipbuilders, will he ask him to ensure that British Shipbuilders gives Parliament information about productivity in each yard? It is evident, is it not, that by transferring employment from merchant shipbuilding yards to warship building yards the Minister is trying to solve the problem of overmanning in the merchant yards by creating overmanning in the warship building yards? By doing that, are not the Government and British Shipbuilders evading their duty, when they should be trying to solve the problem?

§ Mr. Kaufman
I find this particularly interesting, because when we debated these matters in December 1977 the Conservative Party demanded that we increase warship building to deal with the problems of the merchant shipbuilding industry.

§ Mr. Arnold
When the Minister next sees the chairman of British Shipbuilders, will he point out to him that there is now definite evidence that the action of British Shipbuilders in seeking to increase United Kingdom capacity in medium-speed diesel engines—about which the right hon. Gentleman and I have had correspondence—by competing with the private sector is producing lay-offs in companies such as Mirlees Blackstone in Hazel Grove? Should not this policy of British Shipbuilders now be reversed?

§ Mr. Kaufman
If the hon. Gentleman has positive and incontrovertible evidence of that, I should be grateful if he would send me details, when I shall have the matter looked into.

§ Mr. Willey
We greatly welcome the return of Mr. Douglas to Austin and Pickersgill Ltd. Will my right hon. Friend emphasise to the chairman, when he meets him, the urgency and importance of strengthening industrial relations at district level?

§ Mr. Kaufman
My right hon. Friend and my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Bagier), with my right hon. Friend the Member for Houghton-le-Spring (Mr. Urwin), came to see me about the problems of Austin and Pickers-gill. It is necessary that proper communications be established there, so that the workers have full confidence in management.

§ Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop
Before the Minister meets the chairman of British Shipbuilders, will he inquire from his appropriate right hon. Friend how the action by British Shipbuilders in increasing by 300 per cent. the directors' fees of subsidiaries of British Shipbuilders is regarded as compatible with the Government's 5 per cent. incomes policy?

§ Mr. Kaufman
Once again, if the hon. Gentleman has incontrovertible evidence about that, perhaps he will let me have it.

§ Mr. Heffer
Will my right hon. Friend indicate whether there have been any 1293 developments in relation to Western Ship-repairers? Have there been any further discussions with British Shipbuilders? Last time the discussions were rather abortive. Also, will my right hon. Friend indicate the future of the Cammell Laird shipyard and what efforts are being made to find more work for that yard?

§ Mr. Kaufman
British Shipbuilders has made it clear that it is not willing to take on Western Shiprepairers. Nevertheless, we are still making efforts to see whether a happy solution for Western Ship-repairers can be achieved. It is not certain that that can be done, but I assure my hon. Friend that efforts are still progressing.
While the problems on the merchant shipbuilding side are very serious, Cammell Laird—which was accepted by the Opposition as a warship builder, too—continues to have warship building. When the redundancies were recently announced I was able, on that day, to announce further naval work for Cammell Laird. I assure my hon. Friend that we shall do everything possible to continue to get a good work flow on the naval side for Cammell Laird.

§ Mr. Norman Lamont
Will the Minister of State confirm that the EEC Commission has refused to authorise the use of the Intervention Fund in this calendar year until it has seen the Government's plans for the rationalisation of the industry? Is that not all the more reason why the Government ought to make known their views on the corporate plan, with its recommendations for 12,000 redundancies, as quickly as possible?

§ Mr. Kaufman
I had a discussion with the Commissioner of Competition in Brussels last month about the Intervention Fund and the possibilities of the corporate plan being examined. The corporate plan is now before the Government. We are studying it with the care that it deserves, and we shall consult the trade unions about it. Meanwhile, the Commission is continuing to study Intervention Fund cases as they are submitted to it.