§ 51. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the volume of orders in British shipyards during each of the last 10 years for each shipyard; and what are his plans for further financial assistance to keep busy those yards in need of a renewal of State help.
§ Mr. MasonFigures of orders for individual shipyards are confidential, but the total new orders received by the British shipbuilding industry during the last ten years were as follows:
Gross tons 1954 … … … 634,000 1955 … … … 2,328,000 1956 … … … 2,475,000 1957 … … … 1,679,000 1958 … … … 497,000 1959 … … … 319,000 1960 … … … 627,000 1961 … … … 748,000 1962 … … … 610,000 1963 … … … 1,523,000 I am making a complete re-appraisal of the shipbuilding industry and this will take some time.