§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the length of time between the placing of the order and the delivery of each of the Royal Navy's last 20 destroyers and frigates.
§ Mr. PattieThe details are as follows:
§ Mr. Goodhart[pursuant to his reply, 3 July]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend on 11 May, quoting figures for dockyard employment levels—[Vol. 4, c. 206–8].
The numbers of Royal Navy personnel are as follows:
51W
Ports-mouth Devon-port Chatham Rosyth Gibraltar All Yards 1970 23 23 20 24 4 94 1971 21 24 19 19 4 87 1972 18 21 18 18 4 79 1973 18 21 17 15 4 75 1974 16 21 17 13 4 71 1975 16 21 15 14 4 70 1976 14 18 15 14 4 65 1977 13 18 14 10 3 58 1978 14 17 15 11 3 60 1979 13 18 13 9 3 56 1980 13 18 14 10 3 58 1981 9 21 13 7 3 53 There is no statistical compilation of employment levels, civilian or service, by naval base. An estimate of present strengths at the main naval bases is as follows:
Civilian Number Portsmouth 11,000 Devonport 16,200 Rosyth 8,200 Chatham 7,200 Gibraltar 2,000 These include RNSTS numbers in outlying establishments.
The following are the assessed Royal Navy strengths of the fleet maintenance bases under the functional authority of port admirals:
Royal Navy Number Portsmouth 650 Devonport 1,100 Rosyth 450 Chatham 250 Gibraltar Refit Crew 150 There are in addition the fleet accommodation centres and a number of Royal Navy training establishments associated with the naval bases.
Figures in the form requested could not be obtained without excessive cost and effort.