MPs examine Clydeside's future

Yards are facing stiff competition

An inquiry into the long-term future of Scotland's shipbuilding industry is set to be launched in Glasgow.

MPs from Westminster's Scottish affairs committee are visiting the city to examine what be done to boost the sector.

The new inquiry will look at the prospects for shipbuilding on the Clyde and examine what can be done to boost demand.

BAE Systems runs the Govan and Scotstoun yards

MPs are due to take evidence from unions and Glasgow City Council on Monday.

Next month ministers will be asked to spell out how they plan to guarantee the long-term future of the sector.

Clydeside was once a by-word for Scotland's industrial strength.

It is now a very different picture as most of the shipyards have gone, and those that remain face stiff competition to survive.

The long-term future may still look uncertain, but defence contracts have provided a lifeline to yards such as Govan and Scotstoun.

A £2bn contract to build six destroyers at the two BAE Systems shipyards was signed by the government in February, safeguarding 1,200 jobs.

Brighter future

The order for the Type 45 destroyers is the biggest single UK warship order placed by the Ministry of Defence in decades.

Earlier this year a government taskforce predicted a brighter future for the shipyards.

Its report said that concentrating on warship production was one of the keys to securing the future of the BAE yards.

The taskforce was set up after the company announced last summer that 1,000 workers would be made redundant at the two yards.

However, more than 400 of those workers will now be retrained for work in new industries.