§ Mr. Arthur Davidsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence what were the reasons for his decision to allocate work on the PPD fuze to the Royal Ordnance Factory, at Blackburn.
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§ Mr. John MorrisThis decision was made for several good reasons. The R O.F., Blackburn, is a modern, well-equipped fuze factory with a highly skilled labour force and experienced management. It has been working for some time with the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment on the development of this new fuze.
I am satisfied that this combination is competent to develop and produce the new fuze efficiently at prices which hold promise of substantial export earnings. In these circumstances, in accordance with the preferred source policy, the right decisior is undoubtedly to allocate the work to R.O.F., Blackburn.