§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the aggregate cost of all forms of financial support from public funds, including subventions from the shipbuilding intervention fund, given or committed to date to the Harland and Wolff shipyard; and what is the number now employed in the yard.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 7 July 1980, c. 83]: In common with other merchant shipbuilding yards in the United Kingdom it has been necessary to support Harland and Wolff from public funds. Between 26 March 1975—the date on which it was announced that the company was to be taken into public ownership—and 31 March 1980, Harland and Wolff received assistance totalling £105 million. Of this £88 million was in the form of special assistance under Northern Ireland legislation. The other £17 million took the form of standard grants available either to industry generally in Northern Ireland, or to the United Kingdom shipbuilding industry as a whole.
In addition, I announced on 1 July that the Government proposed to make available £42.5 million for the current financial year.
Employment in Harland and Wolff at 4 July 1980 was approximately 7,000.
§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many ships from the Harland and Wolff shipyard have been delivered on schedule in the past 12 months; how many have been delivered late; and what has been the aggregate cost to public funds of compensation for late deliveries.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 7 July 1980, c. 83]: Four ships have been delivered by Harland and Wolff during the past 12 months, of which two were late, one on schedule, and one ahead of schedule by six weeks.
Details of compensation payments for late delivery are a commercial matter between the parties concerned.
§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will 222W specify in the Official Report the early and marked improvements in performance achieved by the Harland and Wolff shipyard since his statement of 23 July 1979.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 7 July 1980, c. 83]: I made clear in my reply of 1 July 1980 to the hon. Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson)—[Vol. 287, c. 534]—that there has been programme slippage on the company's orders, for reasons by no means restricted to factors within the control of management and work force. Nevertheless, measured steelwork productivity has shown a significant improvement since the autumn of 1979, and there are indications of progress along the learning curve in ferry construction. I believe that the recently announced tanker order from British Petroleum will greatly help the company in achieving further substantial improvements in performance.