§ 84. Mr. Charles Smithasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any estimate of the urgent plant and machinery requirements of the textile industries; and whether it is proposed that any reduction shall be made in the intended investment in this industry as a 166W result of the programme described in Cmd. 7268.
§ Mr. BelcherTotal orders on the books of textile machinery manufacturers for the home textile industries amount to about £30 million. Deliveries of textile machinery to these industries are increasing. Similar information as to the textile industries' requirements of other types of plant and machinery is not readily available. As regards investment in buildings, the general position, as already announced, is that no new industrial buildings or extensions will be started for at least six months other than a limited number of cases which are of exceptional importance by reason of their contribution to exports or to the saving of imports. The importance of textiles in this connection will be borne in mind when building projects by textile firms are under consideration.