§ 50. Captain Stricklandasked the Minister of Agriculture whether the list of firms from whom steel sheets and bolts can be obtained, issued by his Ministry, was issued after consultation with the trade; and whether it includes a number of people who have never previously handled such goods.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsThe arrangements for distribution which my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind apply only to a relatively small quantity of surplus sheets and bolts which were originally constituent parts of silos, the manufacture of which was arranged by my Department as part of the silage campaign carried out in 1940. The sale of these silos to farmers was entrusted to certain firms of general agricultural merchants who at that time were in a position to stock them together with component parts of silage. When the demand for these silos had been met, the surplus parts were made available to farmers through the stockists concerned.
§ Captain StricklandIs it the policy of the Board of Agriculture to encourage the disposal of these agricultural parts to those recognised in the trade, and is the disposal confined to traders in that particular line?
§ Mr. WilliamsIn the particular case in question, the spare parts referred to having been lodged in the premises of something like 134 merchants, when there were. nuts and bolts left it would have been unsound economy again to have distributed those nuts and bolts to other dealers. I can assure my hon. and gallant Friend however that there is no intention of establishing a Government monopoly in these parts.