§ Mr. Burdenasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will give an undertaking that the Royal Naval dockyards will be given priority for the repair and refit of naval vessels and the construction of new tonnage for the Navy,so that labour forces in the Royal yards may be firmly stabilised, a sense of security and purpose restored to the workers, and the future prosperity of dockyard towns assured.
§ Mr. HayIt is the aim of Admiralty policy to maintain a fair balance between the claims of H.M. dockyards and private shipyards for nava! work.
62WH.M. dockyards are already given the bulk of the repairs and refits which is, and always has been, their main task, and for which they are primarily equipped. Such work is now placed to contract only when it is not practicable or suitable for acceptance in the dockyards.
Most of the new construction programme is carried out by the private shipbuilding industry which also is specially equipped for, and skilled in, this task. Some new construction is reserved for the dockyards as a matter of policy and this will continue, depending only on the size of future naval programmes and the relationship between dockyard costs and those in private industry.