§ 26. Mr. Higgsasked the President of the Board of Trade how many licences have been applied for to manufacture prototype equipment; how many have been granted; and how many refused.
§ Mr. DaltonThe number of applications received is 1,100; 930 have been granted; and 19 have been refused for the time being on the advice of the Supply Departments concerned but will be reconsidered later.
§ Mr. HiggsOwing to the small number of licences that have been refused, would it not be possible for the President to permit the manufacture of prototypes without a licence?
§ Mr. DaltonI cannot do that. Licences that have been refused have been reduced from 30 to 19. The ground for refusal is that the Supply Department concerned tells me that the firm that wants the licence is behind with its war contracts. If a firm is behind with its war contracts it ought to complete them first. In a number of cases we have been able to reconsider the matter since the firm has caught up with its arrears.