HC Deb 06 June 1995 vol 261 cc8-9
7. Mr. Jamieson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the terms and conditions of the employees of Devonport dockyard will remain the same after the privatisation of Her Majesty's royal dockyards. [25100]

Mr. Freeman

That is a matter for Devonport Royal Dockyard plc, its employees and their representatives.

Mr. Jamieson

Does the Minister recall his Department's repeated assurances to the employees of Devonport dockyard, in answers to Members of Parliament and in a written answer to me on 23 May 1995, that terms and conditions would not be changed without the prior consent of the work force? Does he not understand the anxiety and sense of betrayal of the work force —people who have served the country loyally and long —now that they have heard that, contrary to the documents of the invitation for tender, the terms and conditions can now be changed?

Will the Minister give the House and the workers of the dockyards a categorical guarantee that their rights to pensions and redundancy payments will be guaranteed after privatisation?

Mr. Freeman

The position on accrued benefits, either for redundancy payments or pensions, is of course safeguarded. Future accruals of such rights for future service are a matter for proper negotiation between the employer and the trustees, for example, of the pension scheme, and the employees and their representatives as far as the redundancy scheme is concerned. If the hon. Gentleman is seriously interested in preserving the interests of those who work at Plymouth, Devonport, he should be distancing himself from the 58 Labour Members who want to scrap Trident.

Mr. Fatchett

Is not the fate of Devonport and Rosyth typical of the Government's privatisation programme —millions of pounds wasted on consultants' fees in preparing for privatisation, job insecurity for those working in the dockyards who have served the country well for so long and now doubts about the defence capability of the Government's proposals?

Is it not time to admit that Minister's policy on that aspect, as in so many other respects, is a total shambles? Would it not make sense to withdraw from that privatisation? It is not wanted, it is not necessary and it will damage the country.

Mr. Freeman

The Government side of the House proceeds on a principle very different from that on which the hon. Gentleman proceeds; the defence industry is there to provide the right equipment and the right service for the armed forces of the country, not to provide employment, either in Devonport or in Rosyth.

The best way forward for the dockyards, in the Government's judgment, is in the private sector, because that way they will provide the most efficient service and the best chance of attracting further work.