§ 32. Mr. HANNONasked the Minister of Transport the value of the imports of foreign tar imported for use in this country in the construction and maintenance of roads; if he is aware that the gas and coke-oven industries in Great Britain produce annually 2,000,000 tons of tar derived from the carbonisation of coal; and if, as this volume of tar is adequate for all purposes in the construction and upkeep of roads in Great Britain, he will take measures to secure that only tar produced in Great Britain will in future be employed in British road construction and maintenance?
§ Colonel ASHLEYI am informed that in 1928 the imports of coal tar from foreign countries amounted to 295 tons, of the value of £1,967, and from countries within the Empire 1,201 tons, of the value of £3,753. No figures are available as to the proportion of foreign tar actually used in the construction and upkeep of roads; but it is evidently very small. I am constantly impressing upon highway authorities the importance of using British materials, but there appear to be no grounds for special intervention on my part in the present ease.