HC Deb 14 May 1984 vol 60 c3
2. Mr. Dixon

asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he last met the chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board to discuss the refurbishment of power stations.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy (Mr. Giles Shaw)

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have frequent discussions with the chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board about various matters, but detailed questions such as this are a matter for the board.

Mr. Dixon

Will the Minister consult the chairman and bring forward the refurbishment of the power stations, since that would provide desperately needed jobs in engineering and help firms such as NEI Reyrolle, in my constituency, which is having to pay off skilled men who will be lost to the industry?

Mr. Shaw

I appreciate fully the importance of the hon. Gentleman's question, but he will recognise that the CEGB has a long-standing and effective policy of purchasing British goods and services provided that prices are right and competitive. Some 99 per cent. of the board's procurement spending is on British goods and services.

Mr. Speller

Bearing in mind my hon. Friend's comment about getting value for money, will he bear that factor in mind if he speaks to the chairman of the CEGB? Does he agree that although we all seek refurbishment and hope for many coal-fired stations, this must depend on coal being available in the future at a more economic price that at present?

Mr. Shaw

My hon. Friend is right to point out that so far the CEGB has taken no decisions on whether to convert or to reconvert any of its oil-burning capacity to coal.

Mr. Eastham

May I remind the Minister that I referred to this matter several months ago and that the hon. Gentleman in turn referred it to Sir Walter Marshall, who wrote to me explaining the constraints on capital expenditure? May I reinforce what my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Dixon) mentioned? The heavy power industry is now in a desperate plight, with no new orders on the horizon. As a consequence there could be a complete collapse of the provision of power engineering in Britain, with no guarantee that it could be re-established once there was a renewed requirement for it.

Mr. Shaw

I reassure the hon. Gentleman that the CEGB has contacts with the engineering industry. Details of its repair and maintenance programmes are available to those firms which seek to take advantage of them. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will make his inquiries in that direction.