§ 4. Mr. John Lewisasked the Minister of Works if he is aware that the distribution of building materials is unsatisfactory at the moment and whether he will give consideration to transferring the functions of control, allocation and distribution of building materials to local authorities.
§ Mr. TomlinsonNo, Sir. I have retained the control of distribution in my Department in order that the entire national output of materials may be available to satisfy priority demands in any part of the country. A piecemeal division of the responsibility would, in my opinion, aggravate the effect of any production deficiencies.
§ Sir W. SmithersIs not the Minister aware that Question No. I, which I asked, 1187 and this Question, both ask for much the same thing? The distribution from Whitehall is awful.