Examination of Witnesses (Quesitons 136-139)
MR HARRY DONALDSON, MR KENNY JORDAN, MR KEVIN MCALONAN, AND MR SATNAM NER
4 MARCH 2008
Q136 Chairman: Good morning. Welcome this morning to our session on employment and skills for defence in Scotland. Please would you introduce yourselves for the record.
Mr McAlonan: My name is Kevin McAlonan, I am Negotiations Officer for Prospect Headquarters.
Mr Ner: My name is Satnam Ner, I am the lay rep for Prospect at Rosyth Royal Dockyard.
Mr Donaldson: Harry Donaldson, GMB Regional Secretary.
Mr Jordan: Kenny Jordan, Regional Officer, Unite, Amicus Section.
Q137 Chairman: Before we start on the detailed questions, would you like to make any opening remarks? No, then we will turn to the questions. Unite research suggests that "the company's £73.7 million wage expenditure will generate £32.4 million of expenditure at Scottish suppliers." How important is the defence industry in Scotland in terms of jobs, in terms of prosperity and the future of Scotland?
Mr Jordan: Our submission has clearly outlined some figures and projections as far as the employment and the supported employment through the supply chain is concerned. I would draw attention to one major statistic: we are looking at 7,000 people in Scotland employed in shipbuilding and, unless our calculation is awry, this is almost one-quarter of the UK shipbuilding workforce. That, plus the other indirect supply chain, gives an enormous amount of employment to the people in Scotland.
Mr McAlonan: Most of my areas of responsibility are within the public sector, the Ministry of Defence. Many of the defence jobs that went up to Scotland were deliberately created there and there are at the moment some question marks over the future of that as a result of some very major reorganisation plans within the MoD which do appear to be having a much greater impact on Scotland than they do on other areas of the UK. That is certainly an issue of concern that we have raised with the Ministry of Defence. They are aware of it and looking to give us a more fulsome response at the moment.
Q138 Chairman: Kenny, you mentioned that there are 7,000 jobs directly and then, of course, indirectly a healthy economy there. What percentage of these orders within the defence industry depend on the MoD orders?
Mr Jordan: The orders for the shipbuilding?
Q139 Chairman: Yes.
Mr Jordan: I do not know the exact figure. I am sure it is within our submission but I would estimate that it is something like 90%.
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