§ 1. Mr. DAYasked the President of the Board of Trade the amount of wood-workers' tools that have been imported into Great Britain for the 12 months previous to the last convenient date; and whether he has any statistics that will show what percentage this number is of the gross amount used in Great Britain?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of TRADE (Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister)The answer contains a number of figures, and, with the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. DAYDo the figures distinguish between tools which are specially imported for use in Government Departments?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERNo, Sir.
§ Following is the answer:
§ The following statement shows the imports, into Great Britain and Northern Ireland during 1928, of certain descriptions of implements and tools for wood-working. Separate particulars for all kinds of woodworkers' tools are not available.
| — | Number. | Declared Value. |
| £ | ||
| Saws, including saw blades for both hand and machine tools. | 13,846,608 | 96,925 |
| Axes, hatchets, adzes and matchets. | 190,148 | 11,139 |
| Carpenters' and joiners' tools (including cutting pans of woodworking machinery) of kinds not specifically enumerated. | 5,200,537 | 133,054 |
| Value of total Imports. | 241,118 | |
| Value of Re-exports | 10,782 | |
| Value of Imports retained. | 230,336 |
§ Statistics are not available as to the number of tools of the above kinds in use in this country, but the total selling value of such tools produced in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1924, as recorded in the third Census of Production was £1,689,000. In the same year, the exports of such tools were valued at £770,000 (f.o.b.) and the net imports at £239,000 (c.i.f.) so that, of the total value of such tools available for use in this country in 1924, about 20 per cent. was attributable to imported goods.