§ 58. Mr. Medlandasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state, in tons, the allocations of steel to the various industries of the country; and the percentage of the total amount allocated for the rebuilding of war damaged cities.
§ Mr. JayThe reply to the first part of the Question is "No" since it has never been the practice to give details of the allocations of steel made to industries. The amount of steel allocated for 1949 specifically for the rebuilding of war damaged cities, of which particulars were circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT on 1st February, is a very small percentage of the expected total supplies. But this, of course, represents only a part of the steel being used for reconstruction in those cities, since other work, such as factory-building, for instance, comes out of other allocations. The purpose of the specific allocation for war damage rebuilding is to enable a start to be made on projects which can effectively use only a limited amount of steel in the current year, although requirements are likely to increase substantially thereafter.