HC Deb 28 November 1945 vol 416 cc1321-2
Mr. John Lewis

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will arrange for the granting of priorities of deliveries for machinery necessary for the production of chemicals and raw materials required for the production of goods for export purposes; and what administrative machinery is available for representations to be made by manufacturers who wish to apply for such priorities.

Mr. Ellis Smith

Owing to the difficulty in assessing priorities between one user of machinery and another, it is generally best to leave the machinery makers and their customers to decide on the order of delivery. But special arrangements can be made for exceptional cases which deserve overriding priority. In these cases, the machinery-user should submit his case to the department which deals with his industry.