§ Mr. Bossomasked the Minister of Works the total national expenditure of the building industry in the years 1936–37, 1937–38 and 1938–39; and what proportion of this was spent by the Government and by which Departments.
§ Mr. HicksI regret that no accurate or detailed statistics of the kind asked for are available. It is, however, estimated that the total expenditure of the building industry in the three years 1936, 1937 and 1938 was £396,000,000, £429,000,000 and £461,000,000 respectively, and that expenditure on direct Government construction was of the order of £14,000,000 in 1936 rising to £42,000,000 in 1938.