HC Deb 04 December 1922 vol 159 cc1191-4

The Treasury, on the recommendation of the Development Commissioners, have made a grant towards the establishment of a Rural Industries Intelligence Bureau, whose object it is to provide skilled advice to all who are concerned in the promotion and extension of these industries.

The Bureau has been set up under a trust deed, and the following have been appointed trustees by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries:

The trustees in the exercise of their authority have appointed a committee, of which they will themselves be members, to conduct the business of the Bureau. The committee has as its chairman the right hon. Lord Ernie, and is composed of the trustees in association with representatives from the Board of Trade, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of Labour, Board of Education, Board of Agriculture for Scotland, Ministry of Pensions, the Forestry Commission, the Labour party, the Federation of Women's Institutes, the British Legion and other interested associations.

The Bureau is thus controlled by a body equally representative of social interests and of technical and business experience. It is essentially an organisation set up for practical purposes.

The primary purpose of the Bureau is to offer skilled advice to those who are engaged in, or contemplate, the establishment of commercially profitable rural industries. The Bureau will be prepared to advise generally and more especially on

  1. (a) The revival and extension of rural industries and crafts which, with proper organisation and improved methods, can be rendered sound and profitable.
  2. (b) The establishment of new industries and of industries which up to now have not been carried on in this country, always provided that such activities are suitable to rural districts and that handicraft forms the chief element in them and that they can be set up on an economic and reasonably permanent basis, yielding a fair reward to the worker.
  3. (c) Standard of workmanship, price, economical production, the use of waste material, training in various crafts and in such subjects as, for instance, dyeing, leather tooling, polishing, and in the use of the latest mechanical aids, etc.
  4. (d) Commercial subjects, such as marketing, foreign competition and the importance of protective measures such as trade marks and registered designs. Advice will also be given as to the best means of developing a simple and efficient organisation on co-operative lines.
Briefly, therefore, the Bureau is prepared to give all possible assistance in the directions indicated above to the isolated handicraftsmen and to rural groups of workers direct, or through their own Associations, and no effort will be spared to obtain information and to give assistance of practical value without delay.

Communications should be addressed to

The Secretary,

Rural Industries Intelligence Bureau,

258–262, Westminster Bridge Road,

London, S.E.I.

The work of the Intelligence Bureau would, however, be, incomplete unless it were supplemented by a central agency providing the workers with materials and deposing of their goods. It is the lack of adequate trading facilities, as well as of authentic information, that has prevented the natural development of these small industries. In conjunction with the Bureau, therefore, a co-operative trading society, known as the Country Industries Co-operative Society, Limited, has been registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, and is situated also at 258–262, Westminster Bridge Road, S.E.I, where it has large showroom and warehouse accommodation.

The Development Commissioners are debarred by the terms of their Act from recommending a grant to an association trading for profit; accordingly, the capital has been raised from private quarters and the trading society will be entirely independent of Government control, and a business concern pure and simple.

A strong governing body has been appointed, composed of Sir Ernest J. P. Benn, Baronet, C.B.E.; Sir Charles McLeod; Sir Basil Mayhew, K.B.E., F.C.A.; Lady Denraan; Mr. Vaughan Nash, C.B., C.V.O.; Mr. J. J. Dent, C.M.G.; Mr. T. L. Coltman.

The functions of the trading society are two-fold—

  1. (a) To supply raw material of every description, or half-finished goods or parts, at wholesale prices to isolated workers or groups engaged in rural industry and handicraft; and also to undertake, where needed, the hiring out of plant and equipment such as looms, sewing-machines, tools, etc.
  2. (b) To sell the articles and the materials made by rural workers and handicraftsmen to the best advantage in markets not always accessible to scattered workers. Anyone wishing to purchase raw material from the trading society will be perfectly at liberty to dis- 1194 pose of the finished goods elsewhere if they choose; similarly, they can, if they wish, obtain their material from some other source, and still employ the trading society to market their goods.

The present moment would appear to be peculiarly favourable to the revival, stabilisation and extension of country crafts and industries. It is common knowledge that the War has served to stimulate country life and activities; cooperative societies, women's institutes, village clubs, and ex-service men's organisations are flourishing and multiplying. There is a greater degree of familiarity with mechanical methods of work, and there is more leisure which could be turned to account if suitable and congenial occupations were forthcoming. The unsettlement and insecurity of the agricultural situation make it all the more important that the possibilities of alternative or supplementary employment should be thoroughly explored and tested without delay.

In reviewing the situation, the Development Commissioners have been particularly impressed by the opportunities which a revival of village industries would offer to many disabled ex-service men. There is still in existence a great training organisation under both Government and voluntary auspices, and it is clear that a large proportion of those undergoing training will never be able to take their place within the ranks of full-time urban industry. For those men occupations are needed which, while compatible with the limitations of their physical powers, will yet be congenal and remunerative and can be carried on either in their own homes or in a small workshop after a short term of special training.

Before adopting the proposals outlined above, the Commissioners submitted them to their Advisory Committee on Rural Industries, of which Lord Ernie is the chairman. The Committee contains representatives of all the Departments concerned with various aspects of the rural problem and with the care of disabled men, and it strongly supported the action proposed.