§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) pursuant to his reply to 317W the hon. Member for Leek, Official Report, 5 March, what estimates his Department has received from British Shipbuilders relating to the number of people likely to be employed in each of the next five years in British Shipbuilders.
(2) what has been the amount spent by British Shipbuilders on redundancy payments in each of the last five years; and what amount he expects to be paid in each of the next five years in the light of its corporate plan.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldBritish Shipbuilders has made payments totalling £4.52 million under the shipbuilding redundancy payments scheme since November 1978, the cost of which is borne by the Government. Payments under the Redundancy Payments Act 1965 and the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 are matters for British Shipbuilders.
British Shipbuilders' corporate plan contains estimates of the employment implications of the options discussed in it, but these estimates are confidential.