§ 3.6 p.m.
§ Lord DAVIES of LEEKMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are aware of the growing complaints against the shoddiness of footwear in this country, particularly in the case of children's shoes; and, if so, what efforts are being made to recapture the place in the boot and shoe industry that British craftsmen once held.
§ Lord LEONARDMy Lords, there has been an increasing level of complaints about footwear in recent years. During the first three-quarters of 1978 complaints reported to the Office of Fair Trading by 1587 Trading Standards Offices, Citizens Advice Bureaux and Consumer Advice Centres totalled 24,186, of which 3,805 related to children's footwear. I do not wish to minimise this situation, but I should like to keep it in perspective to the extent that the total number of complaints represented .02 per cent. of sales in the period referred to. This is a factor which must be taken into account.
With regard to the second part of the noble Lord's Question, in April 1978 the Government introduced a scheme of assistance for the footwear manufacturing industry under the 1972 Industry Act, totalling £4.5 million. This is aimed at improving all aspects of the performance of the United Kingdom footwear manufacturing industry.
§ Lord DAVIES of LEEKMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that reply, and I am delighted to hear that our British craftsmen are to receive assistance towards retaining their craft and employment. Has my noble friend looked at the letter which I sent him from the Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association in Kettering (which is the foremost trade association in the world)? This avers that the level of wear and tear of imported shoes is half that of shoes made in Britain. Finally, will the Government—or ultimately any future Government—introduce a code of practice for the examination of shoes that are imported into this country? I ask this because in the two years from 1975 to 1977 there was a 25 per cent. increase in complaints about imported shoes, as well as an increase in price of 30 per cent.
§ Lord LEONARDThat information is very disturbing, my Lords, and I take it very much to heart. Some importers in this country have their own facilities for testing; and, as I stated in my original reply, the number of complaints represents a very small percentage of total sales. I appreciate that standards must be raised, and I hope that my noble friend will agree that the provision of £4.5 million to the industry should be of great assistance. I hope it is the wish of Members of your Lordships' House that the manufacturers in the boot and shoe industry should take very much to heart the opening lines of a well-known song and abhor the closing lines of it.
§ Lord DERWENTMy Lords, does the noble Lord realise that many imported shoes are perfectly all right so long as one does not walk on wet grass?
§ Viscount ECCLESMy Lords, does the Minister also take into account craftsmen in the bespoke shoemaking trade? Surely in that trade, as in the binding and repairing of leather-bound books, the shortage of craftsmen is now becoming acute. Is this not due to the fact that a boy or girl leaving school must wait three or four years before becoming an expert craftsman? During that period the young person cannot earn enough money, before later becoming an expert and earning a good living. Will the Government look a little more into this problem of the period of apprenticeship?
§ Lord LEONARDMy Lords, all I can say on that point is that the Government set up the Footwear Industry Study Steering Group, which was established to consider ways of improving the efficiency and the international competitiveness of the industry, and its continuing viability. This group presented its report to the Secretary of State for Industry; and I feel that we are progressing in the introduction of schemes through which young people can be brought into the industry and turned into excellent craftsmen.
§ Baroness FAITHFULLMy Lords, does the Minister not agree that the peculiar shape of a proportion of children's shoes leads to malformation of the feet; and do the importers and our own manufacturers take note of what the orthopaedic surgeons advise?
§ Lord LEONARDMy Lords, I take the point of the noble Baroness, but we have to realise—and noble Lords on the opposite Benches more than most, probably, will accept this—that competitiveness is the key to successful selling, and if you cannot produce something which is successful you will not sell it for very long, if at all.