§ 44. Mr. Tilneyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it a condition of aid from public funds to British shipowners that a part of their repair work goes to ship repairers in Great Britain, provided the price is competitive.
§ Mr. OnslowThe only aid at present being paid from public funds to British shipowners consists of grants payable under the Industrial Development Act 1966. Such a condition was not applied during the qualifying period, but the study of the ship repair industry which my right hon. Friend the Minister for Industrial Development has just commissioned will be looking at the factors which influence the attitude of shipowners to repairing in the United Kingdom.