Mr William Taylor: I quite agree that there is a first-class factory at Maltby. In common with all the others, the future of that establishment is at present under consideration and I cannot anticipate the statement shortly to be made by my right hon. Friend.
Mr William Taylor: I agree that Dalmuir is a very fine engineering establishment. I have seen it. I assure the hon. Gentleman that I will do everything in my power, as will my right hon. Friend, to ensure that the factory at Dalmuir is continued in full employment so far as possible and that civil production will be introduced if the necessary arrangements can be made.
Mr William Taylor: I appreciate that. My information is that the statement will be made quite shortly. I can say no more than that today.
Mr William Taylor: It is not the Department's practice to seek details of the main contracts in cases in which sub-contract work is undertaken for industrial concerns. Those known to be associated with contracts placed by the Ministry of Supply are, however, small in number and value. It would be wrong to assume that the main contracts could in such cases appropriately have been placed with the Royal Ordnance...
Mr William Taylor: The rôle of Woolwich in the Royal Ordnance factory organisation will be that described by the then Minister of Supply in his statement in reply to a Question by the hon. Member on 26th February, 1954. As regards the future level of employment at the factory, I have nothing to add to the reply given to his Question on 3rd July.
Mr William Taylor: It is still intended that the future of the Royal Ordnance Factory at Woolwich will be that announced by the then Minister of Supply in February, 1954. The factory will concentrate on experimental work, plant production, modification and re-conditioning of equipment, the manufacture of tools, gauges and so on. The special position of the Woolwich Factory is very much in the mind of my right...
Mr William Taylor: The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply (Mr. W. J. Taylor) rose——
Mr William Taylor: I join with hon. Members opposite in the disappointment that this debate has been so short as to preclude hon. Gentlemen from raising matters which are vital to them and which affect factories in their constituencies, but I feel that it might be for the convenience of the House and of those Members who have already spoken if I were to make a brief reply and attempt to cover some of the points...
Mr William Taylor: First, may I reply to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Poole (Captain Pilkington)by saying that my right hon. Friend and I will be very glad to consider any representations that my hon. and gallant Friend makes concerning the Poole Royal Ordnance factory, or from any hon. Lady or Gentleman in any part of the House who seeks to make such representations to us. We are, indeed, very...
Mr William Taylor: I agree in general terms with what the hon. Member has said. Those of us who have had experience of local government and social work will know how difficult it is to define the word "hardship." Many of us have sat for thousands of hours trying to deal with cases which were marginal, when the word "hardship" could not be clearly defined. All I say to the hon. Gentleman is that this is really a...
Mr William Taylor: I am afraid that anyone who has done only four and a half years is not eligible for payment under this scheme. If the hon. Member for Feltham (Mr. Hunter)will raise a particular case as an example to put to me, I will give him a detailed reply and see whether there is any arrangement by which such a person can benefit by a payment. But I have not that information here now. My information...
Mr William Taylor: I should hesitate to comment on any suggestion made by the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire without notice; he makes so many suggestions and so many comments that I am not sure which one he is referring to.
Mr William Taylor: I do not want to pursue that at this particular moment. I should like to make a short reference to the disposal of surplus factories. My right hon. Friend and I regard the problem of finding new occupants for the factories no longer required for defence production as one of the greatest urgency and importance. I will, in close collaboration with my right hon. Friend the President of the...
Mr William Taylor: I will certainly consider representations from any quarter which can be of help in this matter. In reply to the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Harold Davies), I should like to say that I have already seen representatives of local authorities, and we are quite prepared at any time to see anyone who feels that he can help us about it. I felt that many of the speeches in the debate struck a gloomy...
Mr William Taylor: Had it not been for the orders placed by this private firm, the level of employment at Wigan might have been very much lower than it is today.
Mr William Taylor: If I may speak by leave of the House, I should like to say that my right hon. Friend and I have listened with interest and attention to the further points which have been made by hon. Members opposite and——
Mr William Taylor: The Department's policy is to make contracts at firm prices wherever practicable and to agree to a wages variation clause only where it is justified by the circumstances. It would take an unjustifiable amount of time to extract information about the proportion of total contracts which include variation provisions.
Mr William Taylor: I do not accept the assumptions in the latter part of the hon. Member's supplementary question. There are some difficulties in this matter. My Department insists upon a fixed price contract wherever possible, but in the case of research and development contracts it is not always possible to estimate with precision the amount of work involved in the contract and, therefore, some latitude must...
Mr William Taylor: No aircraft was chartered for my right hon. Friend, myself or representatives of the Ministry of Supply, for the journey from Belfast to London on 23rd October. The additional service was provided by British European Airways as a normal commercial flight in the light of their knowledge of the amount of traffic there would be that evening. The aircraft involved was a Viscount 800 with a...
Mr William Taylor: The Hawker Siddeley Group, with others, has made proposals for the private venture development of a medium range turbo-jet aircraft to meet a British European Airways requirement. These proposals are still under consideration.
