§ Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Industry what he expects to be the net effect on the public sector borrowing requirement and on the balance of payments of the proposed contract between British Shipbuilders and the Polish Government.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldI expect there to be little or no effect on the estimate of the PSBR, which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his statement of 26th October—[Official Report; Vol. 936, c. 1442–3.] The overall effect on the balance of payments will at all times be positive.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Industry which British yards will be allocated the orders for the 22 ships and two floating cranes to be purchased by Poland.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldThe final allocation of these orders is a matter for British Shipbuilders.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) whether any of the 22 ships to be purchased by Poland with the aid of subsidy from the British Government will have British-designed engines;
(2) how many of the engines of the 22 ships to be built under the Anglo-Polish shipping deal will be built in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldBritish Shipbuilders have already announced that 157W engines of Sulzer design have been specified for the 4,400 dwt ships and of Burmeister and Wain design for the 16,500 dwt ships. Twelve of these will be built in the United Kingdom.
§ Miss Boothroydasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether any part of the agreement concluded for the construction of Polish ships and equipment in British yards requires the use of imported steel.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldThe terms of the agreement between British Shipbuilders and the Polish Steamship Company are commercially confidential to the parties.