HC Deb 26 October 1984 vol 65 cc739-41W
Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table giving, for both the Devonport and Rosyth naval complexes separately for the years 1979 to 1984 (a) civilians directly under the control of chief executive dockyards, (b) naval staff directly within the control of chief executive dockyards, (c) other Ministry of Defence civilians working exclusively on dockyard work, (d) other Ministry of Defence civilians working partly on dockyard work, (e) other Ministry of Defence civilian unconnected with dockyard work,(f) naval staff, (g) contractors' employees, (h) others, and (i) total.

Mr. Lee

The numbers of people, civilian and naval, serving at Devonport and Rosyth dockyards on the 1 April in each of the years from 1979 to 1984, and accountable to the chief executive dockyards were as shown in the table reproduced below.

1 April 1979 1 April 1980 1 April 1981 1 April 1982 1 April 1983 1 April 1984
Devonport
Civilian 12,772 12,459 12,068 12,173 12,812 13,423

reductions to the Treasury and Civil Service Committee. The main variations shown derive from the decisions announced in Cmnd. 8288.

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84
Changes to workloads -817 -371 +439 +1,229
General streamlining -25 -37 -7
Dropping or materially curtailing a function -908 -2,763 -4,017
Totals -817 -1,304 -2,361 -2,795

Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table giving the number of employees at 1 April for the years 1970 to 1984 for each of the royal dockyards separately and an aggregate total for each year.

Mr. Lee

The total number of civilians serving in the royal dockyards at 1 April for the years in question are shown in the table reproduced below:

1 April 1979 1 April 1980 1 April 1981 1 April 1982 1 April 1983 1 April 1984
Royal Navy 18 18 21 18 12 15
Rosyth
Civilian 5,984 5,846 5,713 5,637 6,064 6,334
Royal Navy 9 10 7 8 8 10
Totals
Civilian 18,756 18,305 17,781 17,886 18,876 19,757
Royal Navy 27 28 28 26 20 25
Grand Total 18,783 18,333 17,809 17,912 19,896 19,782

The other information requested will take a little time to assemble, and I shall write to the hon. Gentleman about it.

Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table for the years 1979 to 1984, showing separately by location and distinguishing civilians from naval staff, the numbers of employees falling within the control of chief executive dockyards.

Mr. Lee

The numbers were as indicated in the table reproduced as follows:

Total civilian and naval personnel accountable to Chief Executive Dockyards*
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Establishment Civilian Royal Navy Civilian Royal Navy Civilian Royal Navy Civilian Royal Navy Civilian Royal Navy Civilian Royal Navy
Portsmouth Dockyard 7,764 13 7,322 12 7,041 9 5,936 10 4,787 8 3,433 7
Devonport Dockyard 12,772 18 12,459 18 12,068 21 12,173 18 12,812 12 13,423 15
Chatham Dockyard 6,154 13 5,960 14 5,889 13 5,020 10 3,036 7 132
Rosyth Dockyard 5,984 9 5,846 10 5,713 7 5,637 8 6,064 8 6,334 10
Gibraltar Dockyard 1,335 3 1,340 3 1,350 1 1,292 3 1,175 2 1,055 2
Chief Executive Dockyards (CED) Headquarters 373 14 378 14 336 15 303 13 291 13 268 11
CED's Telecommunications Staff 97 92 90 124 168 174
Faslane (Engineering Services Department) 1,003 1,016 1,065 1,019 994 973 17
Clyde Marine Services Maintenance Base 77 76
Portland (Port Auxiliary Repair Unit) 170 165 160 158 153 146
Navy Department Shore Machinery Base 88 88 95 92 94 124
Yard Services Department Greenock 28 29 29 29 30 27
Collier Dock, Chatham 20
Totals 35,845 70 34,771 71 33,836 66 31,783 62 29,604 50 26,109 62
* Numbers shown are actual bearings as at 1 April each year.

Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a reconciliation between the figures for civilian personnel in the dockyards as given in table 3.7 of Cmnd. 9227-II and the figures for civilian staff in the dockyards in the United Kingdom as given in table 5.2 of Cmnd. 9227-II.

Mr. Lee

The first table mentioned in the question is a historical record of average numbers in the years indicated. The second—as the heading to the table indicates—records the forecasts included in annual Estimates in respect of the years there indicated. The differences, where they are other than marginal and attributable to estimating tolerances, arise from adjustments to manpower targets made after the estimates had been prepared.