§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of naval dockyard employees during the period covering April to June 1982, July 1982 to December 1982, the whole of 1983 and 1984, respectively; and on what factors he has based his proposal to initiate a scheme of privatisation of the remaining naval dockyards.
§ Mr. LeeDuring the periods in question the average numbers of civilian employees in the royal dockyards were as follows:
Numbers April-June 1982 29,638 July-December 1982 28,820 January-December 1983 27,038 January-December 1984 24,159 We are at present considering possible future arrangements for managing the royal dockyards. No decisions have yet been taken. A wide range of factors are involved, including national security and the need to ensure that the taxpayer receives best value for money.