§ Sir I. Fraserasked the Minister of Agriculture if he can make any statement as to forthcoming diversion of materials and labour to the manufacture of farm implements, which are in very short supply.
Mr. HudsonThere is, generally speaking, no difficulty in the supply or raw materials for the manufacture of farm implements, and the Ministry has recently invited manufacturers to apply for authority to increase their production programmes where the labour and capacity is available. In common with other industries, shortage of labour now constitutes the principal bottleneck in production, but the Ministry continues to sponsor applications to the Ministry of Labour and National Service on behalf of individual firms for priority in the supply of labour where the need is urgent, in accordance with the established Preference procedure.