§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what advice was given to his Department by Coopers and Lybrand concerning the future of Devonport dockyard should it fail to win the refitting work for the Trident submarines.
§ Mr. AitkenAdvice provided to my Department by Coopers and Lybrand on future warship refitting arrangements is commercially confidential.
§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of Devonport Management Ltd.'s business plan as either a nuclear or non-nuclear dockyard which was submitted to his Department on 9 March.
§ Mr. AitkenBoth dockyard contractors have, at my Department's request, submitted outline business plans against the possibility that the dockyard each manages was 587W to be the designated nuclear dockyard or a non-nuclear dockyard. These plans have been discussed at clarification meetings with the respective contractors, and are being taken into account in my Department's consideration of future warship refitting arrangements. The plans are commercially confidential, but, as I told the hon. Member for Dunfermline, East (Mr. Brown) on 2 April (Official Report, column 507), we will release as much information as possible, subject to the constraints of commercial confidentiality and security once we have announced our proposals to the House.