HC Deb 08 May 1972 vol 836 cc877-8
1. Mr. Leslie Huckfield

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a further statement on the allocation among public bodies of increased Government expenditure to assist the machine tool industry.

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. John Davies)

The estimated allocation between public bodies is:

£million
British Railway Workshops 1
Government Training Establishments 0.75
Royal Ordnance Factories and Naval Dockyards 2
Universities 1
Polytechnics and Further Education Colleges 4–5

Mr. Huckfield

Is the Secretary of State aware that, although I am grateful for that information, confidence has still not returned to the machine tool industry, particularly Alfred Herbert in Coventry? What steps does he intend to take to improve the public accountability of this money when it is spent? Can he ensure that none of it is spent on imported machine tools?

Mr. Davies

In relation to the programme, details of which I have just given, it is not possible to discriminate against imported machine tools under international trading arrangements. I have every hope and expectation that a very large proportion of this money will go to home manufactured machine tools.

Sir R. Cary

On 28th April my right hon. Friend made a very helpful state ment in Manchester about the Bill which he intended to introduce to give financial aid to the regions. Will that help the machine tool and engineering industries in the Manchester area?

Mr. Davies

Yes; there is no reason why the arrangements which were those largely contained in the statement I made to the House on 22nd March should not apply to the machine tool industry. Indeed, I imagine that the machine tool industry itself will be coming forward with good inquiries on this subject.

Mr. Benn

In view of the very great anxiety in the industry, will the Secretary of State tell the House whether there is any progress with the pre-production order scheme which guarantees the money spent on British machine tools? Will he give the House an estimate of the amount he is now making available which is likely to be spent on machine tools from abroad under a Government scheme to help the British industry?

Mr. Davies

I cannot make any "guestimate" about the amount which will be spent on machine tools from abroad, but I should think it will be a very small proportion. The response to the pre-production scheme has not been as great as one would have hoped and it has not been an extensive help to the industry so far.