§ Mr. Bishopasked the Minister of State for Defence if he will take steps designed to achieve greater standardisation of standard industrial components and Admiralty specifications, and to improve reliability and performance of such equipment to meet Admiralty requirements on grounds of economy and efficiency.
§ Mr. BuckIt is already the practice to make as much use as possible of 257W standard commercial designs in naval equipment, and the design of components specially to meet naval requirements is undertaken only where it is essential. However, my Department is constantly seeking to achieve an ever greater measure of standardisation between commercial components and naval specifications, and informal discussions are now going on with the trade associations which it is hoped will lead to increased cooperation in this area.