§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals for reorganising the quality assurance directorates are being considered by his Department; and what are the likely effects on employment at the Woolwich arsenal site.
§ Mr. LeeA consultation document was sent to the trade unions on 24 January 1984 outlining a management proposal for the future organisation of quality assurance in the Ministry of Defence in which certain quality assurance directorates including the quality assurance directorate (ordnance) and the materials quality assurance directorate would be integrated into a single functionally separated organisation under the executive control of the Director General of Quality Assurance with effect from 1 April 1984. Overall the reorganisation will result in very worthwhile manpower savings but the likely effect on employment at the Woolwich arsenal site depends on the result of further studies and discussions relating to the scope and deployment of the integrated organisation.
I shall be writing further to the hon. Member shortly on this subject.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total establishment for (a) industrial and (b) non-industrial employees at the quality assurance directorates, Woolwich arsenal; and what were the actual numbers in post at the most recent convenient date.
§ Mr. LeeThe total establishment for the quality assurance directorates in Woolwich arsenal is 1,126 non-industrial and 286 industrial staffs. The respective strengths of 1 February 1984 are 1,090 and 329.