HC Deb 02 February 1955 vol 536 c126W
117. Major Wall

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty to give an estimate of the approximate total cost to the Exchequer of placing all Maltese employed in Her Majesty's Dockyard, Malta, on corresponding British rates of pay.

Mr. Digby

The total extra cost of placing all Maltese civilian employees in Her Majesty's Dockyard, Malta, on corresponding British rates of pay is estimated very approximately at £1,500,000 a year for industrials and £100,000 for non-industrials. It does not follow that expenditure on Malta Dockyard would actually increase by these amounts in the hypothetical circumstances envisaged by my hon. and gallant Friend. The amount of work which could be allocated to Malta would continue to depend, among other things, on the financial resources available to the Admiralty and the cost of doing work there compared with the cost of doing it elsewhere.