§ 2.58 p.m.
§ The Earl of LauderdaleMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there has been any improvement in the last three months in the delivery performance of British shipyards building vessels and rigs for use on the continental shelf, enabling them to match foreign competition.
§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Cockfield)My Lords, only two deliveries have taken place in the last three months, both from the same yard to the same customer. One was slightly early and the other slightly late. No general conclusions can be drawn from such a short period.
§ The Earl of LauderdaleMy Lords, in thanking my noble friend for that reply may I ask him whether there is any hope of this big £80 million semi-submersible rig at Scott Lithgow's yard being ready by the second agreed date, namely, next January? Can he say whether in fact Cammell Laird is out of the wood with regard to its troubles in particular the GVA 400 Sovereign Explorer which was eight months late last July when he answered my last question?
§ Lord CockfieldMy Lords, these are matters between the individual customer and British Shipbuilders.
§ The Earl of LauderdaleMy Lords, would my noble friend not agree that we are continuing to lose orders to overseas yards because of the delays in British yards?
§ Lord CockfieldYes, my Lords; this is entirely true. The performance of British Shipbuilders is not as good as we should like to see it. A new chairman has just entered office and he is giving vigorous attention to these matters, but there is certainly a great deal of room for improvement.