§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact on north-west industry of the orders for(a) the Eurofighter, (b) Nimrod and (c) Hawk aircraft since 1992. [13269]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotWork on the Eurofighter programme has an important and positive impact on industry in the north-west of England. Although detailed employed figures are not readily available specifically for the north-west, approximately 6,000 jobs in the UK are sustained by the Eurofighter development programme. We expect this to increase to some 14,000 in production. At this stage, the quadrinational Eurofighter programme is in the full development phase. We hope to be in a position, in conjunction with our partners, to move to the production investment and production phases of the programme in the very near future. Contractual negotiations are continuing.
The prime contract for Nimrod 2000 was placed with BAe in December 1996. Considerable high-quality engineering work will be undertaken at BAe Warton. A number of other British defence companies will also benefit from involvement in the programme. We expect that about 2,600 UK jobs will be sustained through the contract.
The last Hawk aircraft to be ordered for the Royal Air Force was in 1982. British Aerospace has been very successful in selling Hawk to a number of countries worldwide. These valuable overseas orders have resulted in a considerable amount of work and prosperity in the north-west, primarily at BAe Warton.