§ Mr. Juddasked the Minister of State for Defence whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the civilian contracts undertaken by each of the Royal Naval dockyards during the past financial year and of the price charged for each of these completed contracts; whether he will publish the estimated figures for the current financial year; and whether he will make a statement on the policy of the Government towards work of this kind, with a particular reference to the need to utilise capital equipment and manpower as fully as possible and towards the relationship between the dockyards and the public sector of industry.
§ Mr. BuckIt would not be in accordance with the normal conventions of commercial confidentiality to publish details of civilian contracts undertaken by the Royal dockyards. However, during88W the financial year 1972–73 total sums charged for work for private customers at each of the four home dockyards amounted to £336,223 made up as follows: Portsmouth, £130,799; Devonport, £97,116; Chatham, £99,975; Rosyth, £8,333. It is expected that work in the current financial year will be of a broadly similar order.
Our policy is that the dockyards should not compete with private industry for civilian contracts but rather take on such work as they can where a demand exists which local firms cannot meet because of lack of capacity or suitable equipment and facilities. This "filling in" of temporary pockets of spare capacity is of mutual benefit to private industry and to the dockyards. The work undertaken for civilian customers includes foundry and machinery work and a miscellany of minor jobs.
The practicability of the dockyards undertaking more commercial work is kept under review, but in any event, for the foreseeable future, the indications are that all the yards will be very heavily loaded with naval work, which will require the fullest possible utilisation of capital equipment and manpower.