§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Defence if costings of agency management and other options for the royal dockyards have been prepared in accordance with Her Majesty's Government's guidelines on privatisation, dated September 1983; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ButlerI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the document "Transferring Work out of Government Departments," prepared by Her Majesty's Treasury in May 1983 and subsequently released to the trades unions and others, and which was produced for the guidance of Departments in assessing the cost implications of such proposals. The guidance, which is necessarily of general applicability, has been taken into account in considering options for the future management of the dockyards.