§ 32. Mr. Leighasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the refitting of Her Majesty's ships in royal dockyards.
§ Mr. LeeOur policy is to refit Her Majesty's ships mainly in the royal dockyards. Some refitting will also continue at Portsmouth naval base following its reorganisation next year. Naval vessels are, however, sometimes refitted commercially when peaks in work load arise in the royal dockyards. Additionally, small vessels based on the Clyde, at Belfast and at Hong Kong are refitted locally by contract.
It is, however, also our policy to encourage competition in the supply and repair of equipment for the Armed Services. Accordingly, we are considering the scope for 476W introducing an element of competition into the field of warship refitting. It will be some time before we are able to reach firm conclusions about this.