HC Deb 01 July 1947 vol 439 cc1146-8
66. Mr. Keeling

asked 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. Belcher

As 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:

It should be noted that ultimate control over purchase is retained by the Government by the import licensing procedure.

69 and 70. Mr. Wilkes

asked 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. Belcher

Allocations 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. Wilkes

Will 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. Belcher

I cannot believe that the scheme breaks down in adminstration. The difficulty is that we cannot afford to unbalance our economy to the extent of shutting down established firms in other areas at a time of shortage of raw materials.