§ Dame Irene Wardasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Booz-Allen Report on the British shipbuilding industry will be published; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChatawayThe White Paper on industrial and regional development published in March 1972—Command 4942— announced the Government's decision to undertake a long-term appraisal of the shipbuilding industry. A study was accordingly commissioned from the consultancy firm of Booz-Allen and Hamilton and its report, edited to remove matters of a commercially confidential nature, is being published this afternoon by Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
The industry has had an unhappy record and there have been failings on the part of management and labour. However, there are now some successful and prosperous companies, improvements have been made in labour practices and new managerial talent has come into the industry. Also there has been a substantial increase in orders in the last few months which has led to a much better short-term situation than that which existed when the report was prepared. The concern of industry and Government must now be to use the opportunity provided by these new orders and the progress already made to secure greater competitiveness in the longer term. There are still difficult issues to be resolved. For instance the report poses questions about the size of industry the United Kingdom should seek to have, the level of secure employment at which the industry should aim, the source of funds for future investment and what can be done by all concerned to accelerate progress towards modern labour, manning and management practices and modern production techniques.
The consultants' terms of reference excluded them from making recommendations on policy, though in the final part of the report they describe five hypothetical situations resulting from different courses of action. The Government are not in any way committed to any of these courses, nor do they at this stage accept any of the financial or employment implications drawn by the consultants. The industry is already 348W receiving substantial assistance from the public funds, and any further assistance would have to be considered in relation to industry as a whole under the Industry Act and to the employment prospects in the regions.
The Government intend that the report should provide the occasion for the development of a long-term policy for the British shipbuilding industry in full consultation with all concerned. I am inviting, therefore, written observations on the report and its implications to be sent to the Shipbuilding Policy Division, Department of Trade and Industry, not later than 15th June.