§ 33. Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Minister of Public Building and Works how many contracts have been let by his Department, or by other statutory bodies or Ministries which work under the aegis of his Department, which involved the use of 1707 Portland stone products in 1964 and in 1965, respectively.
§ Mr. BoydenI regret that the information is not available and that the cost of obtaining it would be more than would be justified.
§ Mr. KingWill the hon. Gentleman see that it is the task of someone in the Department to make the figures available? Does not the hon. Gentleman understand that the whole prosperity of Portland depends on them? Is it not a fact that, when the Government stopped office building in London, they did so without even considering the effect—which has been powerful—that it would have no Portland?
§ Mr. BoydenThe implication of the supplementary question is that the Ministry discourages the use of Portland stone. That is not so. The stone is used in a great many buildings when architecturally desirable.