§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the future work-load on 1st January 1976 at the Govan and Scotstoun shipyards; and how it com-
Position at 1st January 1973 1974 1975 1976 Govan Yard: Number of vessel … … 11 13 15 10 Tonnes … … 262.0 303.7 362.1 249.4 Scotstoun Yard: Number of vessels … … 3 6 7 6 Tonnes … … 77.1 108.7 123.6 112.6
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Industry how many are employed on ship repairing activities at each of the former Court Line yards in the North-East; whether he has been consulted by the management as to the possibility of closing some of the repair facilities concerned; and to what extent he expects the present level of employment to be continued at each repair yard during 1976.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe numbers employed, including staff, on 23rd January 1976 at the ship repair yards of North-East Coast Shiprepairers Ltd. which were formerly owned by Court Line, and are now in public ownership are as follows:
Mercantile Dry Dock Co. Ltd. 532 The Middle Docks & Engineering Co. Ltd. 971 Brigham & Cowan Ltd. 625 Greenwall Dry Docks Ltd. 394 Brigham & Cowan (Hull) Ltd. 205 The Department has been kept closely informed of the management's discussions with the unions about the future of the yards and the possibility of redundancies. The most serious problem facing the group, and indeed all the United Kingdom ship repair industry at the moment, 102W pared with the workload on 1st January 1973, 1974 and 1975.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe information requested by the hon. Member is given in the following table which Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. has supplied to my Department:
is a severe shortage of orders brought about by the generally depressed state of world trade, and the resultant decline in the number of ships trading. Employment prospects for the next year depend to a considerable extent on the state of trade. The management of the group will remain in close touch with the trade union representatives, and my Department will continue to watch the situation closely.