§ 25. Mr. Ashtonasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is his estimate of the proportion and value of public sector construction projects being designed in metric dimensions; and what is his comparable estimate for the private sector.
§ Mr. LoughlinAt 31st December, 1969, work to the value of £1,500 million was being designed in metric in the public sector. This is equivalent to 55 per cent. of the work at design stage at that time for that sector. The corresponding figures for the private sector were £41 million and 17 per cent.
§ Mr. AshtonDoes my hon. Friend realise that this means that public builders are three times more efficient and modern than private enterprise builders? Does he think that this will lead to owner-occupiers finding themselves buying "metric" carpet to put into a brand-new "feet and inches" house?
§ Mr. LoughlinMy mind boggles at the various computations that could be made. What has happened is that the public sector has taken the initiative at a very early stage, and we are consequently all the time extending into metric. I would urge the private sector to speed up a little in its efforts to go metric.
§ Mr. CostainThe Parliamentary Secretary laughed at the joke about the carpet, but does he appreciate that the building industry has to design metric buildings on imperial Ordnance sheets? Is that not a more serious matter than carpets?
§ Mr. LoughlinIt may be that I laughed about the carpet, but I have a sense of humour and I wish that the hon. Gentleman would develop one.