§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he can now report on the discussions which have taken place with Plessey's with a view to preventing the closure of the Plessey factory in Kirkby and the transfer of its work to South Shields.
Mr. Alan WilliamsSince the Plessey Company announced 4,000 redundancies on 2nd March 1977 I have had extensive discussions with its representatives concerning the provision of alternative employment in the North-East and North-West. I made clear that Government financial assistance was available for any viable project to save these jobs. However, despite all our efforts we were not able to identify one to be located on Merseyside. Agreement was reached for Plessey to set up with Government selective financial assistance an operation for the manufacture of printed wiring boards at South Shields. No work will be transferred from Kirkby in connection with this project.