§ 31. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Minister of Technology (1) if he will name the firms involved in fulfilling the Seacat missile project, and the names of firms which will be the subject of inquiry following the discovery of the making of excess profits;
153W(2) what steps he has taken to recover from Short Brothers of Belfast the excess profits made on contracts for the Seacat missile; when such contracts were signed; and on what basis.
§ Mr. BennUntil the examination which is in progress has been completed it is not possible to say that excess profits have been made on the Seacat missile. The principal contract, which is for the missile body, was placed with Short Brothers and Harland Ltd. In April, 1962, and fixed prices were agreed for two separate batches in April and December, 1964, respectively. A number of other firms are associated with work on the missile, but their individual contributions are relatively small and they are not the subject of this inquiry.