Major BARNESasked the President of the Board of Trade if any properties held in connection with the production of flax and acquired out of public moneys for that purpose have been disposed of, and, if so, what was their original cost; what sum has been received for them; what was the reason for their disposal; and by whom have they been acquired?
Sir ARTHUR BOSCAWENThe Flax Production undertaking carried on by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Peterborough, Selby and Long Mel-ford (Suffolk) districts has been sold as a going concern to Messrs. Beverley, Peace & Partners, 83, Pall Mall, London, S.W.1, who, it is understood, were acting on behalf of persons already interested in the industry. The purchase price is £535,000, subject on the one hand to deductions in respect of constructional work not completed at the date of the sale and, on the other hand, to the addition of a sum representing the costs of administration between the date of tender (8th December, 1919) and the date on which1328W possession was given (1st February, 1920). The price covers not only land, buildings and equipment, but also stocks of flax straw in hand, and cannot at present be precisely allocated to these different items. The cost to the State of the land, buildings and equipment was approximately £425,000. A complete financial statement, which must necessarily take some time to prepare, will be published as soon as possible. The revival of flax production in Great Britain was originally undertaken by the Government experimentally in 1911 under the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act, 1909, but the work was greatly extended during the War under the stress of national emergency. The Bale of the undertaking at the present time is in pursuance of the Government's intention from the outset, namely, to transfer it to private commercial enterprise at the earliest possible moment. The factories in the Yeovil area have also been sold to Messrs. A. Mitchelson & Co., Ltd., Pinners Hall, Austin Friars, London, E.C., for £180,000, subject to a similar adjustment in respect of uncompleted work. The cost to the State of the land, buildings and equipment in this case is approximately £190,000. In each casa the purchasers have bound themselves to continue the use of the factories for the purposes of flax production for a period of not less than five years.