§ Mr. Peter Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he has anything to add to the statement made by his predecessor on 14 December 1982 concerning the future of Portsmouth naval base, Official Report, c. 63.
§ Mr. Ian StewartMy right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Defence announced on that date that we proposed to retain 2,800 civilians in the fleet maintenance and repair facility at Portsmouth naval base following completion of. This represented an increase of some 1,500 jobs over earlier plans. He made it clear that this increase was contingent upon acceptance of our plans, including more flexible working practices, by the trades unions.
We have now completed our initial consultation with the trades unions over these matters. I am glad to say that they have accepted our proposals in principle. Provided detailed negotiations with the unions on putting this agreement into practice are completed satisfactorily, we intend to establish a facility employing 2,800 civilians, and will in the meantime plan on this basis. As the previous Secretary of State for Defence said in his announcement, some redundancies of industrial staff will still be required, although these will be fewer than under the earlier proposals. The first notices went out earlier this month.