DEVONPORT ROYAL DOCKYARD AND H.M.S ILLUSTRIOUS

That this House congratulates the workforce of Devonport Royal Dockyard on its timely completion of the difficult refit of the aircraft carrier HMS 'Illustrious'; regrets that the skills developed on this refit and on that of its sister ship HMS 'Invincible' in 1987 cannot be applied to the refit of HMS 'Ark Royal'; further regrets that the expertise of the Devonport workforce will not, on present policies, be applied to a similar refit until early in the 21st century; believes that the present allocated programme of surface ship work runs counter to the spirit of the White Paper on competitive tendering; and urges the Government to increase the amount of surface ship work open to competition, thereby maximising the drive for efficiency and value for money.