asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty what cuts are anticipated in the Malta Dockyard; what steps he will take to keep discharges as low as possible; and if it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to allocate merchant ships to Malta for repair.

The future industrial strength of Malta Dockyard has not yet been settled but the policy of the Admiralty is to keep discharges to the minimum by undertaking as much alternative work as possible. Control by licence of repairs to merchant ships is confined to the United Kingdom. But Malta Dockyard has authority to accede to requests to undertake repairs to merchant ships provided capacity is available.