§ 96. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the First Lord of the Admiralty to state his plans for this year designed to assist, by means of licences for shipbuilding and repairing or otherwise, British shipyards to compete on favourable terms with foreign shipyards.
§ Mr. DigbyThe Admiralty is in constant touch with the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industries, and is ready and willing to assist these industries by any practicable means when they require help. The relatively large order book still held by our shipbuilding industry carries the disadvantage, in competition with foreign yards, that, in general, it is unable to quote fixed prices or early delivery dates. I have no reason to believe that the ship-repairing industry is not in a healthy state, but it must be remembered that most foreign yards have a very plentiful labour supply and are able to work shifts when owners' requirements make this necessary.