§ 111. Mr. Piratinasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that in the shipbuilding repair industry unemployment is growing and orders are declining; and whether he will make a statement on his proposals to meet this situation.
Mr. EdwardsI am well aware of the position. The ship repairing industry, which was very much expanded during the war, has been able to maintain an abnormally high level of employment in the post-war period because of the volume of war deferred repairs to merchant ships and the task of reconverting the ships which had been used for trooping and other war services. The present decline in employment is due to the gradual return to more normal conditions in the industry, but my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Labour, will continue to do everything possible to find alternative employment for the men displaced.