§ 86. Sir FORTESCUE FLANNERYasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the large number of Fordson tractors which farmers have bought from the Government under strong encouragement by the Government and large profits to the public funds; whether satisfactory arrangements have been made for the supply of spare parts necessary for immediate repair; whether he is aware that farmers have been seriously inconvenienced by lack of facilities for obtaining spare parts, and the use of the tractors and the culture of the land seriously delayed in consequence; and whether he will state what steps have been taken to make the supply of spare parts readily available to farmers throughout the country, more especially in view of the urgency of the harvest?
Sir A. BOSCAWENThe Board are aware that there has been difficulty in obtaining spare parts for Fordson tractors, and have been in constant communication with Messrs. Ford upon the subject. The whole stock of spare parts originally held by the Board has been made available for distribution through the trade. Messrs. Ford state that they are importing large stocks of spare parts, most of which have already arrived in this country, but they have been hampered by shipping and other difficulties. The situation has materially improved during the last few weeks, and the Board hope that very shortly the position will be normal.
§ Sir F. FLANNERYIs my hon. Friend aware that the difficulty is one which is felt seriously by farmers throughout the country, and that the harvest will be seriously jeopardised unless this state of things is brought to an end, and will the Department act energetically as regards the distribution of these spare parts as widely and as quickly as possible?