§ 35 and 36. Mr. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Supply (1), what is the total amount of capital moneys invested by His Majesty's Government, including both purchase price and subsequent capital expenditure, in the Government-owned steelworks at Monkbridge, Leeds and Barrow-in-Furness;
(2) if he will publish the trading results of the Government-owned steelworks at Monkbridge, Leeds and Barrow-in-Fur-ness up to 31st March, 1946.
§ Mr. WilmotAs the answer is rather long, I propose to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the answer:
§ The total capital expenditure was £724,000 at the Barrow works and £522,000 at the Monkbridge works. It is contrary to normal practice to publish the trading results of the individual factories operated by my Department. I can, however, state that the operation of the Barrow works resulted in a net loss of £779,000 from 1st November, 1942, to 31st March, 1946, and of the Monkbridge works in a net loss of £180,000 from 10th August, 1942, to 31st March, 1946. Production from these two works was needed for national requirements, but they were uneconomic producers and would not normally have been kept in operation. The Government, therefore, acquired ownership in order to maintain production. The output following acquisition has been satisfactory and the trading losses sustained have been less than would have been the cost of importing an equivalent quantity of steel, even if supplies could have been made available and shipped.