§ Miss Vickersasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many of Her Majesty's ships are to be stationed and repaired in the Far East; how many were previously repaired in Her Majesty's Dockyard, Devonport; and what action is being taken to provide work to replace work on these ships.
§ Mr. HayIt would not be in the public interest to disclose the numbers of ships to be stationed and repaired in the Far East.
None of these ships was previously allocated specifically to Devonport for repair. The programme of ships to be repaired in the United Kingdom depends essentially upon the needs of the Fleet, and has invariably been arranged, after taking into account the welfare of the crews, so as to provide the best balance of work at the time for all the United Kingdom yards. This will continue to be the method of allocation in future.