§ Lieut.-Commander Hutchisonasked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is proposed to adopt a scheme of concentration in the ironfounding industry; and can he give an assurance that no iron foundries in Scotland will be closed as part of such a scheme, having in view the comparatively small number of war industries in Scotland as compared to England, which is leading to large numbers of Scottish workers being transferred to England?
§ Mr. DaltonYes, Sir. There is considerable excess capacity in this industry; it would be wasteful therefore to keep all the iron foundries open. Concentration is taking place by regions, and I hope to examine a scheme for Scotland shortly. I can give no unqualified assurances at present, but I understand that all the labour likely to be released under the Scottish scheme should be absorbed by other sections of the Scottish iron and steel industry which are urgently in need of labour. The ironfounding industry will have an opportunity to express their views before any scheme is put into force in a region.