HC Deb 23 June 1955 vol 542 cc1477-8
4. Mr. Hale

asked the President of the Board of Trade the figures of yarn spun and of cotton cloth woven in the months of May 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, and 1955, respectively.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

As the answer contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Hale

Will the right hon. Gentleman be good enough to inform the House whether he regards these figures as satisfactory and whether the recent figures for May—we have not got them yet and we do not know them yet—will not show, on our knowledge of unemployment in Lancashire, a very marked and serious reduction in production?

Mr. Thorneycroft

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will look at the figures.

Following is the answer:

PRODUCTION OF COTTON YARN AND CLOTH
WEEKLY AVERAGES FOR PERIODS OF FOUR OR FIVE WEEKS
— Single cotton yarn including cotton waste yarn) Woven cotton cloth
Mn. lbs. Mn. linear yds.
May, 1951 … 18.55 43.0
May, 1952 … 11.21 31.9
May, 1953 … 15.27 35.8
May, 1954 … 17.50 41.0
May, 1955 … 15.32 —
The month of May included the Whitsun Bank holiday in 1951 and 1953. For May, 1951, the figure is an average of five weeks' production. The total of output of woven cotton cloth in May this year is not yet available; in April it amounted to 35.3 million linear yards per week.