§ 5. Mr. Bossomasked the President of the Board of Trade how many standards of constructional timber for houses were imported in the first six months of this year; and how many were imported in the corresponding six months of 1946.
§ Mr. H. WilsonImports of hewn, sawn, and planed or dressed softwood were 374,476 standards in the first six months of 1947 as compared with 273,299 standards in the corresponding period of 1946. This material has a wide range of uses other than constructional, but a substantial proportion would be suitable for the latter purposes.
§ Mr. BossomIs the Minister aware that houses cannot be built without timber, and that without houses it will not be possible for the export drive to be satisfactorily carried out? The workers must have houses in which to live, and they are not getting them.
§ Mr. Ronald ChamberlainCan my right hon. Friend say what proportion of these standards came from the United States and Canada?
§ Mr. WilsonNot without notice but a considerable proportion of the timber which has arrived in the last two or three months has come from the Western Hemisphere.
§ Mr. BossomKnowing the great demand, why was more of this timber not imported?
§ Mr. WilsonIt was a question of the amount available, the amount which could be obtained in the world.
§ Mr. BossomAny amount of it was available.
§ 19. Mr. Parkinasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give an approximate timber budget for the next 12 months, indicating the amounts required to cover the present housing programme, other building, allocations to the furniture industry and other uses; stating what amounts of imports, from which countries are already promised by contract or trade treaty; and from what other countries supplies are known to be available, at what prices or under what conditions.
§ Mr. H. WilsonI am afraid that it would be impracticable to prepare a timber budget such as that suggested at present as, apart from other considerations, the quantities of timber which will be available for export in several of our most important overseas sources of supply and also the level of prices are not yet determined. Our timber imports in the coming year are, however, likely to be limited by currency rather than by availability and the cuts which have already been announced will mean that imports will fall short of essential requirements.
§ Mr. ParkinWhile I appreciate the difficulties which my right hon. Friend has outlined, may I ask him if he will recall the approximate budget, and bear in mind that publicity given to specific targets and requirements is likely to be much more effective in stimulating the production drive in this country than overall figures?
§ Mr. WilsonYes, Sir, but while we are in negotiation, and shall be in negotiation, with many of the countries from whom we need to get timber, I do not think that it would be helpful to publish too much detail of our requirements.
§ Sir Waldron SmithersIs the purchase of timber from these countries by bulk purchase, and, if so, does not the right hon. Gentleman realise that if it were allowed to go through the ordinary trade channels he would get more timber at a cheaper price?
§ Mr. WilsonTimber is bought by the Timber Control by the method of bulk purchase. I am certain that if it were to go through the ordinary private channels of trade, our position, both with regard 1308 to timber supplies and timber prices, would be far worse than it is today.
§ Mrs. Leah ManningIs my right hon. Friend able to say how much timber there is in the country at the present time?
§ Mr. WilsonI would like notice of that question, but there is at present rather more in stock than there was at this time last year.
§ Mr. MarplesIs the Minister satisfied that the stocks of timber will be sufficient to honour the licences given for building purposes?
§ Mr. WilsonYes, Sir. With the stocks we now have, together with imports already on the way, or scheduled to arrive.