§ THE EARL OF LUCANMy Lords, on behalf of my noble Leader, I beg to ask the second Question which stands in his name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total number of hours of overtime worked in the Admiralty Dockyards in this country for the year ended 31st December, 1957.]
§ LORD MANCROFTMy Lords, the total number of hours of overtime worked in The Admiralty Dockyards in 3 this country during the year ended December 31 last was between 9 and 10 million.
§ THE EARL OF LUCANMy Lords, in view of that figure, have Her Majesty's Government considered spreading the work over to existing Royal Dockyards rather than closing down some of them?
§ LORD MANCROFTYes, my Lords, Her Majesty's Government have considered that very carefully indeed; and we have also considered the problem of reducing the period of overtime. In some cases, however, dockyard overtime is quite unavoidable—for example, on harbour vessels attending on the Fleet, in meeting arrivals and departures and the ebb and flow of tides and so on; and on occasion to ensure the most economical progression of work: for example, when waiting for one job and not throwing another out of balance. A balance has to be struck between the two, and we think in the present contemplated reduction of overtime and in the spread of work we have reached the most economical and satisfactory balance we can obtain.