§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will make it his policy that his plans for the future of the shipbuilding, ship repairing and marine engineering industries will be such that there will be no reduction in the present labour force in each part of the country.
§ Mr. MeacherThe proposals will be designed to place on a more secure basis the future of these industries and of those employed in them; but as in any other industry there will have to be adaptations to changing conditions and I cannot undertake that there will be no reduction whatsoever in employment in any part of the country.
18W
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the estimated net worth of (a) the shipbuilding, (b) ship repairing and (c) marine engineering industries on the basis of (1) the market value of their shares, (2) the book value of their net assets and (3) as going concerns.
§ Mr. MeacherThe Stock Exchange Fact Book, about to be published, gives the market value of the ordinary shares, of the nine quoted companies engaged mainly in shipbuilding as £24 million on 30th June 1974. The book value of the net assets of these same nine companies, as shown in their latest available annual accounts, totalled £100 million; no figures are available of their net worth as going concerns. The Stock Exchange Fact Book does not separately distinguish ship repairing and marine engineering. The figures relate to the total activities of these companies, including those outside of shipbuilding, ship repairing and marine engineering. No figures are available for the market value of the shares of non-quoted companies in the industry or for the shipbuilding subsidiaries of companies engaged mainly in other industries.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will give as much information as is consistent with commercial confidence about the aid paid from public funds to the following shipyards in each of the last 10 years and, where appropriate, the extent to which the payments were made since the yards passed in whole or in part into public ownership, together with details of the nature of the aid: (a) Harland and Wolff, (b) Upper Clyde and its predecessors, (c) Govan, (d) Marathon, (e) Cammell Laird, (f) Swan Hunter, (g) Scott Lithgow, (h) Austin and Pickersgill, (i) Doxfords and (j) the remaining yards.
§ Mr. MeacherThe information is given in the following tables. The figures exclude shipbuilders' relief, given under the Finance Act 1966, and aid available through schemes of general assistance to industry such as investment grants and expenditure under the Local Employment Act.
19W20W21W
LOANS £ millions Company 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 (to 30th June) Total Harland & Wolff Ltd.* — 3.500 — 5.000 3.000 — — — 5.000 — 16.500 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. and Fairfields (including assistance to Liquidator of UCS) 1.000 (0.060) 3.500 0.935 7.000 — — 2.700 — — 15.075 Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. — — — — — — — 3.000 5.500 4.250 12.750 Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Ltd. — — — — — — — 1.204 5.096 — 6.300 Marathon Shipbuilding (UK) Ltd. — — — — — — — — — — — Swan Hunter Group — — — — — — — — — — — Scott Lithgow Group — — — — — 2.128 1.671 — — — 3.799 Austin & Pickersgill Ltd. — — — — — — — — — — — Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd. (formerly Doxfords) — — — — — — — — — — — Others — — — — 0.620 6.510 1.393 — — — 8.523 Total 1.000 3.440 3.500 5.935 10.620 8.638 3.064 6.904 15.596 4.250 62.947 * To 31st March 1974 only. 22W23W
GRANTS £ millions Company 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 (to 30th June) Total Harland & Wolff Ltd.* — — — 0.186 1.662 4.915 2.275 13.803 3.724 — 26.565 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. and Fairfields (including assistance to Liquidator of UCS) — — 0.021 2.440 3.566 0.265 7.435 — — — 13.727 Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. — — — — — — — — 1.571 0.327 1.898 Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Ltd. — — — — — — — 0.842 1.190 0.169 2.201 Marathon Shipbuilding (UK) Ltd. — — — — — — — — 0.139 0.058 0.197 Swan Hunter Group — — 0.018 2.865 1.223 0.552 1.176 1.988 5.747 — 13.569 Scott Lithgow Group — — 0.009 — — 0.758 0.678 2.248 1.593 0.340 5.626 Austin & Pickersgill Ltd. — — — — — — — 1.116 1.346 0.001 2.463 Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd. (formerly Doxfords) — — 0.013 — — — — 0.961 1.252 0.062 2.288 Others — — 0.089 0.132 0.080 0.325 0.513 3.166 5.570 0.757 10.632 Total — — 0.150 5.623 6.531 6.815 12.077 24.124 22.132 1.714 79.166 * To 31st March 1974 only.
SHARES £ millions Company 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 (to 30th June) Total Harland & Wolff Ltd.* — — — — — — 4.000 — — — 4.000 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. and Fairfields 0.500 0.030 — — 3.000 — — — — — 3.530 Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. — — — — — — — 5.000 — — 5.000 Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Ltd. — — — — — 1.500 — — — — 1.500 Total 0.500 0.030 — — 3.000 1.500 4.000 5.000 — — 14.030 Note: Government shareholdings in Harland and Wolff, Upper Clyde Shipbuilders and Cammell Laird were purchased on 8th July 1971, 28th August 1969 and 4th June 1970 respectively. Govan Shipbuilders has been wholly owned by the Government since its formation on 1st July 1972.
* To 31st March 1974 only.
24W25W
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the total aid paid from public funds to each of the shipbuilding, ship repairing and marine engineering industries and the total in each case paid to firms in the North-East; and if he will provide details of the nature of the aid.
§ Mr. MeacherAid from Government funds has been made available both through schemes of general assistance to industry—for example, investment grants and expenditure under the Local Employment Act—and through schemes specific to shipbuilding. I regret that it is not practicable to provide information, in the way requested, about the former. The table below gives details of Government aid to shipbuilding companies, under schemes specific to the industry, during the period 1st April 1965 to 30th June 1974. The marine engineering industry benefited to a small extent—£0.3 million—from assistance available under the Shipbuilding Industry Act 1967. There have been no comparable schemes specific to ship repairing but many of the shipbuilding companies which have received Government aid also engaged in ship repairing activities.
£ million North East England Total United Kingdom Loans … 0.1 62.9 Grants … 18.5 79.0 Purchase of shares … — 14.0 TOTAL … 18.6 155.9 Notes:
(1) North-East England has been taken as the area from the Tyne to the Tees estuaries, inclusive.
(2) The figures include assistance given by the Northern Ireland Government and the Ministry of Defence up to 31st March 1974 only.
(3) The figures do not include shipbuilders' relief, given under the Finance Act 1966.