§ 66. Mr. Keelingasked the President of the Board of Trade which raw materials from abroad are still being imported or bought exclusively by the Government or by Government commissions; and which have been released from Government control.
§ Mr. BelcherAs regards the first pan of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Orpington (Sir W. Smithers) on Tuesday last, and, with regard to the second part, with the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of raw materials, importations of which have been transferred from the Board of Trade to private account.
§ Following is the list:
- Certain special types of timber.
- Wool.
- Silk (except from Japan)
- Coir.
- Kapok.
- Ramie.
- Woodpulp for rayon, plastics and cellulose film.
- Bagasse
- Certain descriptions of paper and board
- Vulcanised fibre.
- Raw sheepskins and pelts in certain cases
- Dressed and undressed leather in certain cases.
- Rubber
- Carbon black.
- North American natural asphalt
- Mica
- Bristles
- Plastic raw materials
- Shellac.
- Beeswax.
- Damar gum.
- Gluestock.
- Mercury, arsenic and most miscellaneous chemicals.
- Graphite, rutile, talc, diatomaceous earth. and sundry other minor materials
§ It should be noted that ultimate control over purchase is retained by the Government by the import licensing procedure.
§ 69 and 70. Mr. Wilkesasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether, in consideration of the fact that five-sixths of the total registered unemployed derive from the Development Areas, he will consider cutting by a substantial percentage the raw material allocation to firms operating in areas of labour shortage in cases where equivalent firms are operating at a low level of production within the Development Areas as a result of a shortage of raw materials;
(2) whether he will revise the present basis of raw material allocation to industry so that instead of being based primarily on a percentage of what the industrial firm was receiving in 1939 or 1945 it will take into account whether the firm or industry concerned operates in an area where there is a labour shortage or in a Development Area with a high level of unemployment.
§ Mr. BelcherAllocations of scarce materials to individual firms already take account of the level of employment in the areas in which the firms are situated as well as of other considerations.
§ Mr. WilkesWill my hon. Friend bear in mind that as the factory development scheme in the Development Areas becomes completed, it is a growing experience to find factories which have been built operating with nearly 20 or 25 per cent. reduction, owing to the shortage of raw material; and on the principle that Development Areas should get priority, does it not seem that, admirable as that principle is, the breakdown is entirely in administration?
§ Mr. BelcherI cannot believe that the scheme breaks down in adminstration. The difficulty is that we cannot afford to unbalance our economy to the extent of 1148 shutting down established firms in other areas at a time of shortage of raw materials.