§ 70. Mr. Attewellasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the terms of the subsidy reimbursement from the tanners due 1st April, 1948, and later postponed to 1st July, 1948.
§ Mr. BottomleyThis is not a matter of subsidy reimbursement; the question which has been under discussion with the industry is the treatment of the stock profit which resulted from the increase in the prices of hides, skins and tanning materials on 1st January. It has been agreed that we shall collect from each firm one-third of the amount of the charge which was originally payable on 1st April, that we should leave the remainder with the individual firms concerned, and that they will earmark this as a reserve against possible future stock losses. We propose, therefore, to withdraw the existing Leather Charges (No. 1) Order, 1947 as amended by the Leather Charges (No. 2) Order, 1948, and to issue a new Order giving effect to these arrangements.