§ 36. Mr. Hordernasked the Minister of Technology what representations he has received from the machine tool industry about the current intake of orders.
§ Mr. HordernIs the hon. Gentleman aware that in the United States the figures of orders for machine tools in May were produced in June? Is there any reason why we should not issue our figures for May in June and not have to wait until the middle of July?
§ Dr. BrayWe publish the figures within a week of receiving the returns from firms. My right hon. Friend has written to them asking them to speed up their returns but the response has not been good enough.
§ Sir H. Legge-BourkeWhile welcoming the improvement, may I ask what attention the Ministry is giving to the fact that for the latest three months of this year our deliveries of machine tools were 9 per cent down on the previous three months? This is serious.
§ Dr. BrayOne has to look over a somewhat longer period. The trend this year of deliveries has been generally upwards and will continue upwards in view of the increased order intake. In the first four months of 1969, compared with the same period in 1968, the increase was 10 per cent.
§ Mr. DalyellSurely the shortcomings in this matter are the responsibility of the firms and not of the Government.
§ Dr. BrayWe have got confused between the sending of returns and the level 1357 of orders and deliveries. The level of orders and deliveries is extremely satisfactory, encouraging and improving, and is much to the credit of the firms.