§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the brick stocks for each month in the past year; and what steps he is taking to resuscitate the building industry.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe brick stocks in Great Britain for each of the 12 months from June 1973 to May 1974 inclusive were as follows:
1973 Million June 166 July 154 August 155 September 178 October 213 November 278 December 362 1974 January 348 February 333 March 386 April 453 May 521 As regards the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply today to the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire about private sector housing. The Government are also acting to help the building industry out of the disastrous trough into which it was plunged by the previous administration by taking steps to enable local authorities to increase substantially their housing programmes, including provision for an additional £350 million of public expenditure in 1974–75.