HC Deb 02 April 1998 vol 309 cc668-9W
Mr. Letwin

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what percentage by(a) tonnage and (b) value of ships completed by UK shipbuilding yards have had as their prime competition an EU shipbuilding yard over the last five years. [37116]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 31 March 1998]: The information requested is not available. UK Shipyards are not required to identify the European competition when applying for Shipbuilding Intervention Fund support and do not always know against whom they are competing.

Mr. Letwin

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment her Department has made of the cost per job of the SIF subsidies for UK shipbuilding over the last two years. [37118]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 31 March 1998]: Assessments undertaken by my Department indicate that the cost per direct shipyard job of Shipbuilding Intervention Fund grants over the last two years ranged between £3,000 and £4,000. Exact figures depend upon assumptions made on the length of the build-cycle for individual orders and the exact numbers of employees in each yard over that time. The increasing use by yards of external sub-contractors (who are not considered recorded as employees) for many tasks would also reduce this cost, as would the inclusion of employment in the suppliers to the yards.

Mr. Letwin

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of(a) official tonnage figures and (b) official figures for the value of sales of completed ships in the UK are attributable to oil-rig construction over the last two years. [37119]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 31 March 1998]: This information is not available. Although the Office for National Statistics collects information on the value of completions of "floating or submersible drilling or production platforms", which would include rigs, as part of the PRODCOM (Products of the European Community) inquiry, the figures cannot be released because they would identify particulars of an individual undertaking, which are confidential under Section 9 of the Statistics of Trade Act, 1947. Tonnage figures are not collected for these products.

Mr. Letwin

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment her Department has made of the effect on UK shipbuilders of a cessation of all shipbuilding aids in the EU(a) in the absence of ratification by the USA of the OECD shipbuilding agreement and (b) in the presence of such ratification. [37117]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 31 March 1998]: The UK shipbuilding industry has been telling the Department for many years that the best way to improve its competitiveness is to remove the market distortions caused by subsidies. We agree with this assessment and our policy has been to achieve this, particularly through ending contract aid, as quickly as possible. Our preference is to work through the OECD Shipbuilding Agreement but, failing that, we believe that the Commission's contingency measures will provide a good basis for developing a more viable shipbuilding sector as they will eliminate contract aid and provide similar support on measures for improving the competitiveness as other sectors enjoy. Both the OECD Agreement and the EU proposals improve the market framework but this is only one of many factors affecting the industry, whose success ultimately depends on its ability to win orders.