§ Sir David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the present state of British Shipbuilders' order book; and how far British Shipbuilders is achieving its commercial and production targets as proposed by the Government.
§ Mr. Michael Marshall:The order book is a matter for British Shipbuilders. The corporation tells me that its merchant orders stood at 53 ships of about 518,000 cgrt at the end of September and its naval orders at 42 ships of about 114,000 standard displacement tons.
My hon. Friend made a statement to the House on 31 July about BS's financial position. He hopes to be in a position soon to make a further report. The Government have not set British Shipbuilders a production target.