§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Industry if, following his answer to the hon. Member for Dundee, East of 6th November 1975, he will make a further statement on the action, other than nationalisation, which has been taken by his Department to deal with the problem of shortage of orders in the shipbuilding industry.
§ Mr. KaufmanMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry, with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade, has had discussions on the matter with the General Council for British Shipping, and further detailed consultations are in train between the General Council, the Organising Committee for British Shipowners, and the Government. He hopes to see close co-operation between United Kingdom shipowners and United Kingdom shipbuilders in the placing of new orders. He announced on 8th April that he proposed to extend the cost escalation insurance scheme to orders from United Kingdom shipowners and a scheme under which a Government guarantee may be given that stage payments would be refunded to an owner ordering a vessel at a British yard which is to be nationalised if that yard should fail before nationalisation.