Bricks (Hansard, 31 January 1966)

§ 4 and 5. Mr. Sharples
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works (1) how many bricks were produced in 1965; and how this figure compares with the target of 8,400 million bricks which he set for the brickmaking industry for the year;

§ Mr. C. Pannell
Brick production in 1965 was about 7,900 million. I have indicated publicly my view that some 8,000 million bricks will be used in 1966.

§ Mr. Sharples
Will the Minister state, first, what would be the number of bricks in the stockpile at present if his target had been achieved, and, secondly, why he is setting a lower target of bricks for 1966 than he did in 1965? Is it because he expects fewer houses to be built?

§ Mr. Pannell
Of course, that is not true at all. The target of 8,400 million bricks included a provision of between 658 200 and 300 million bricks for rebuilding stocks, and we have taken all this into consideration with the present level of stocks.

§ 8. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what are the stocks of bricks accumulated in the country at the latest available date; how many houses these represent; and what advice he is giving to brick-makers as to expansion of their productive capacity.

§ Mr. C. Pannell
At the end of December, 1965, stocks were 550 million, equal to about 21 days' average usage. These do not by themselves represent any houses at all.
There is imbalance in the brick industry, and some of the large firms have expanded capacity.

§ Mr. Boyd-Carpenter
Can the right hon. Gentleman answer the last part of my Question? What advice is he giving to brickmakers about their capacity, in the light of the restricted building targets which his right hon. Friend is now laying down?

§ Mr. Pannell
There is no restriction on building work. After all, the housing performance was up on the previous year. The National Plan calls for over 9,000 million bricks a year by 1970, and it may well be that these stocks may be mopped up in the resurgence of building when the better weather comes. I would remind the right hon. Gentleman that two years ago stocks were running at 900 million, very much higher than this. It is not true that this is an all-time high level.

§ 10. Sir D. Renton
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he is aware that large stocks of bricks have accumulated at the brickworks at and near to Fletton; and what steps he is taking to ensure that these bricks will be used for building the houses, schools and hospitals which are needed.

§ 11. Mr. Murton
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what plans he has to absorb the growing surplus of bricks being produced as a result of his policy of stepping up production.

§ 12. Sir T. Beamish
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works why he 659 appealed to the brick-making industry on 10th November, 1964, to install new kilns and step up the production of bricks by between 8 per cent. and 10 per cent.; what was the stockpile of bricks on that date; what is the stockpile today; and on what date Her Majesty's Government decided to reduce the expected completion of housing in 1965 from approximately 430,000 to approximately 382,000.

§ 14. Mr. Urwin
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is the extent of the current stockpile of bricks; and how much of the reserve supply has accumulated owing to adverse weather conditions.

15. Mr. Gresham Cooke
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what plans he has to provide that the national stockpile of 500 million bricks will be used for building houses.

§ 18. Mr. Hornby
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he is aware of the large stockpile of bricks at the premises of a Tunbridge Wells company, of which he has been informed; and what plans he has for reducing the national stockpile.

§ 20. Mr. Chichester-Clark
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will give details of the guarantee which he has given to the representatives of the National Federation of Claymakers that existing stocks of bricks will be cleared before the spring.

22. Mr. Joan L. Evans
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what representations he has received from the National Federation of Clay Industries about brick stocks; what action he will take; and if he will make a statement.

§ 23. Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd
asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what plans he has for further discussions with brick manufacturers regarding future output in view of the fact that brick stocks are well above normal reserves and that a well-equipped works has been compelled to close for at least three months because of the lack of storage space.

§ Mr. C. Pannell
After my meeting with representatives of the National Federation of Clay Industries on 18th January I issued a Press statement. I have sent a copy to each of the hon. Members.

§ Sir D. Renton
While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for letting me have advance notice, may I ask him whether he is aware that the present stocks of bricks, especially in the important Fletton area, are very much higher than can be accounted for by seasonal factors or by the weather, and are probably due to the decline in private house building as a result of Government policy? Will he persuade his colleagues to rectify that policy so that the builders can get on with the job, and to avoid possible unemployment?

§ Mr. Pannell
I am afraid that the right hon. and learned Gentleman has not done his homework. He cannot be sure of his facts, because the information I have had from the major Fletton makers is that they are expanding production. Presumably they are not alarmed at the stocks they hold—about 40 million—in or near Fletton, which covers the area to which the right hon. and learned Gentleman refers.

§ Mr. Urwin
While expressing my thanks, as, I am sure, other hon. Members will, to my right hon. Friend for the memoranda circulated, may I remind him that there is no reference in the memoranda to the latter part of my Question, which refers to the accumulation of these stocks due to adverse weather condtions?

§ Mr. Pannell
The stockpile of bricks was 550 million at the end of December —as I said, 21 days' supply; but bad weather could probably have accounted for about 200 million.

Mr. Gresham Cooke
Would not this stockpile of 550 million have built 30,000 houses? When are the Government going to allow those 30,000 houses to be built?

§ Mr. Pannell
The total was up last year and will be even higher this year. I would remind the hon. Member—something that apparently has not crossed his mind—that about 40 per cent of bricks are used on building other things than houses. He should consult the National Plan.

Mr. Evans
Despite what has been said, is it not true that we built more houses last year than ever before and that the targets next year will be even greater? Surely it is preferable to have a great supply of bricks than a scarcity, such as 661 we had a year or two ago? Would my right hon. Friend give some reassurance to the industry, because it has great hopes that under this Government it will build more houses, that when the housing drive gets under way this stockpile of bricks will be required?

§ Mr. Pannell
There are serious problems of imbalance in the industry itself. I cannot hope to resolve all those problems in what is, after all, a private enterprise industry. This is a matter which the industry must put right by itself. However, I did notice, for instance, that The Builder of 21st January reported the Chairman of Redland Holdings Limited as saying: We have shown our absolute confidence in the future by resolutely refusing to cancel or postpone the building of this second kiln, and this is our complete answer to the pessimists and doubters.

§ Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd
Has the right hon. Gentleman included in his own homework the fact that Knowle brickworks, one of the oldest brickworks in the Birmingham area, closed down on 7th January due to shortage of storage?

§ Mr. Pannell
Actually, the all-time record of closures was in the last year of the Conservative Administration, when no fewer than 24 firms closed down; in 1964 there were 24 closures. We are very much on the better side. But there are all sorts of reasons for firms in the brick industry to close down. Sometimes a source of clay is exhausted; and sometimes the works become uneconomic. If he looks at the figures of this industry since 1945, as I have, the right hon. Gentleman will find that there is a continual change within the industry itself. I would have to give him a dissertation on the build-up of the industry itself to answer all the questions and put them in perspective. The question of one isolated firm closing down does not explain the situation.

§ Mr. Hornby
The right hon. Gentleman said that bricks are used for other things than houses. Could he, then, exercise his influence particularly in the South-East, to see that there is a greater expansion of school building and other types of building like that which are very much needed in the area and which would very much help to reduce the stockpile of the bricks we are discussing?

§ Mr. Pannell
I am not responsible for the building of schools. I have a great deal of sympathy with the hon. Member, having lived in the same county for a great number of years. I have also been a member of the Kent Education Committee in my time.

§ Mr. Chichester-Clark
Is it not extraordinary that, although production fell short of the Minister's target by 600 million, there was an over-stocking of 550 million? Is not that really ludicrous forecasting? Can the right hon. Gentleman give a list of those brick firms which have closed down, and of the redundancies, and the reasons—not just such reasons as exhaustion of a deposit, but the real reasons?

§ Mr. Pannell
I did not give any guarantee to the brick industry—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh, yes."]—no. It was an agreed target at the time. Neither the hon. Gentleman nor I have any control over the weather. We have to look at the figures for the brick industry. These were ghastly shortages that we inherited—not three days' supply; and we had questions all round the place, from all parts of the House, as to when there were going to be supplies of bricks. I negotiated in good faith with the industry at the time on the best facts at my disposal. I want to make this perfectly clear. Neither this industry nor any other can be insulated against the measures taken for the general health of the economy.

§ Mr. Snow
Does it occur to my right hon. Friend that, for the second time, the Conservative Opposition is trying to arouse some feeling of uncertainty in the industry as a whole, although it appears from the Secretary of the Building Societies Association that he anticipates that advances next year for new houses will be an all-time record?

§ Mr. Pannell
As a matter of fact, the building societies tell us that both November and December were record months. I can only tell the House that one of the great problems that I have had as the Minister is to try and blot out the long memory that they have of their treatment by hon. Gentlemen opposite.

§ Mr. Boyd-Carpenter
The right hon. Gentleman says that he gave no guarantee to the industry, but does he not recall that on 20th November, 1964, he did 663 exactly that, when he gave them a guarantee that every brick produced in the next four years would be used? Can he now answer the question which has been asked three times already and tell the House whether or not he is now asking the industry to increase its productive capacity further?

§ Mr. Pannell
The right hon. Gentleman has given the answer to his question. The four years are not yet up. I said "over a period of four years", which is reasonable. Just as the Government cannot complete the whole of their legislative programme in 15 months, he cannot expect the house building target of 500,000 to be reached before 1970. I might point out that right hon. and hon. Members on the other side never promised any more than 400,000, and they said "as soon as possible after 1964". That is what the right hon. Member for Leeds, North-East (Sir K. Joseph) said at the Conservative Party conference. I think that right hon. and hon. Gentlemen opposite would very much like the public at large to forget what happened during their Administration. The fact that people remember was exemplified at Kingston upon Hull, North last Thursday.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The answers are getting too long.