§ 37. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Postmaster-General what was the quantity of home-grown telephone poles purchased by his Department last year, to the nearest convenient date; and what proportion of total purchases of telephone poles they represented.
§ Miss Pike13,552 telephone poles were purchased from the home industry during 1960, representing 26 per cent. of the total purchases for the year.
§ Mr. DigbyWill my hon. Friend make it quite clear that, where the price and quality are good enough, her Department will try to buy home-grown products and species other than Scots pine?
§ Miss PikeI can assure my hon. Friend that we shall do everything we can to encourage home-grown produce and we do in fact accept species other than Scots pine.
§ Mr. ManuelWill the hon. Lady tell us if there are any suitable areas in Scotland where this lucrative crop could not be grown?
§ Miss PikeThe majority of the poles come from Scotland and at present a senior official of the Department is up in Scotland looking into this problem.
§ Sir J. DuncanWill my hon. Friend get in touch with the Forestry Commission to see if it can find more suitable timber for Post Office use?