§ Mr. Boothasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether, when he last met the chairman of British Rail Engineering Limited, he discussed the closure of Shildon and the Temple Mills workshops and the partial closure of the Harwich and Swindon workshops; and what indication of Government policy with regard to railway workshop closures he gave at that meeting.
§ Mr. David HowellNo. Decisions on closures are a commercial matter for British Rail Engineering Limited and the Railways Board. I have made it clear in my discussions with British Rail, that the board must be free to manage BREL's capacity to match the level of demand, in the overall interests of the railway.