§ 54. Viscount SANDONasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury what proportion of Stationery Office paper supplies comes from within the British Empire; and whether he will give a complete list of the allocation of all such consumption by this Office, as to the country of origin, of the raw material, and the manufactured product?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Ronald McNeill)The whole of the paper purchased by the Stationery Office is obtained from British mills with the exception of certain special papers and cards which are not made at all in this country, and for which no satisfactory British substitute exists. In view of this policy, separate statistics are not kept regarding the origin of purchases, but the total obtained from abroad certainly does not exceed 2 per cent. The source of the raw material is unidentifiable in the manufactured product, and the Stationery Office has no information as to the countries of origin.
§ Viscount SANDONWould it not be possible for the right hon. Gentleman to make a stipulation, as regards the 2 per cent. which comes from foreign mills, that the country of origin of the raw material should be within the British Empire?
§ Mr. McNEILLI do not think there would be any advantage in that.