§ 37. Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that existing factory buildings in Lancashire are being sold subject to a limitation that they be used for storage purpose only; and whether he will introduce legislation to deal with this.
§ Mr. H. StraussI am informed that recently one cotton spinning mill in Lancashire was sold by auction subject to this condition. The answer to the second part of the Question is: No, Sir.
§ Mr. HaleDoes the Parliamentary Secretary mean he is going to wait until a whole lot of cotton mills have been sold subject to these conditions limiting their use to storage when they ought to be used for industrial employment; and will he tell us why he is not prepared to do anything about it? Is it not a disgraceful thing, in view of the shortage of factory space, that a limitation of this kind should be placed on existing factory space?
§ Mr. StraussAs far as I know, this is an isolated case. If there are other cases I hope the hon. Gentleman will bring them to my notice. According to my information this is a quite isolated case. It certainly remains the intention of Her Majesty's Government to encourage industrialists to make use of any suitable existing premises that are available.