§ 97. Mrs. Middletonasked the Minister of Transport what steps he proposes to take in order to overcome the difficulties referred to in the Report of the Working Party on the Turn-Round of Shipping, arising from the tendency for shipping traffic to be concentrated too closely on a few ports to the exclusion, or only partial use, of facilities existing in other ports; and whether he will cause a review to be made of the facilities available, particularly at smaller ports or in ports only partially used for merchant shipping purposes, with a view to traffic 110W through our ports being more widely spread, the turn-round of shipping expedited and the fullest possible use made of available dock labour, equipment and installations.
§ Mr. BarnesThe Working Party recommended in their Report that shipowners and major importers and exporters should consider the possibility of saving ships' time by the greater use of ports not at present working to full capacity. All organisations concerned have been asked to co-operate in implementing the Working Party's suggestions. Special attention is being drawn to this particular recommendation. As the Working Party has only recently reported I do not consider any further investigation necessary at present.