§ 22. Mr. S. Shephardasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that makers-up of children's clothing are unable to fully employ their workers owing to the shortage of cotton and rayon cloths; and what action does he propose to take in the matter.
§ Sir S. CrippsI am aware that a number of firms in those sections of the clothing industry which use cotton and rayon cloth could increase their production if more material were available, but cloth 173W supphers have been urged to give special consideration to the requirements of children's wear firms which specialise in baby linen. If the hon. Member has any special case in mind and will let me have particulars. I will consider it.
§ Mr. Prescottasked the President of the Board of Trade what is estimated to have been the loss of production of cotton and rayon cloth and cotton and rayon yarn due to the coal crisis.
§ Sir S. CrippsPrecise estimates of the loss of production due to the fuel crisis cannot be made but output of cotton and spun rayon yarn by the cotton industry in February and March was about 38 million lb. less than it would have been had the December rate of production been attained. Comparable figures for cotton cloth and rayon and rayon mixture cloths are 78 million yards and 15 million yards respectively. The loss of production of continuous filament rayon yarn in these months was about 6¼ million lb