§ 24. Mr. Willeyasked the First Lord of the Admiralty why the work in hand in Wear shipyards for the last quarter was less than the previous quarter and less than the corresponding quarter last year.
§ Mr. DigbyThe tonnages of work in hand at the end of the first quarter of 1954 and of the first quarter of 1955 are 220,980 and 212,790, respectively. The tonnage of work in hand on 31st December, 1954, was 226,765. No reliable deduction can be drawn from variations of this sort between one quarter and another, to which shipbuilding is notably susceptible. The comparable figure for 31st December, 1953, is 202,915 and during the last year variations in work in hand in the Wear shipyards between one quarter and another have been of the order of 35,000 tons.