Catalogue description Board of Trade: Committee of Inquiry into the Shipbuilding Industry: Minutes and Papers

The Committee of Inquiry into the Shipbuilding Industry was appointed by the President of the Board of Trade in February 1965 with Mr. A R M Geddes OBE as chairman.

Its terms of reference were 'to establish what changes are necessary in organisation, in the methods of production, and any other factors affecting costs to make the shipbuilding industry competitive in world market; to establish what changes in organisation and methods of production would reduce costs of manufacture of large main engines of ships to the lowest level; and to recommend what action should be taken by employers, trade unions and Government, to bring about these changes'.

The Committee was to be concerned with shipyards regularly building vessels of 5,000 gross tons and above (or Naval vessels of equivalent value), but may also consider the implications of their investigations for shipyards building sea-going vessels of lower tonnage. The Committee was also to be concerned with the manufacture of steam turbines and slow-running diesels normally installed in ships of 5,000 tons and above (or Naval vessels of equivalent value).