HC Deb 01 December 1950 vol 481 cc182-6W
Mr. Chetwynd

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) the present annual production rate of utility goods as compared with 1949;

(2) the production rate of utility goods as a percentage of the total supplies for home civilian consumption.

Mr. H. Wilson

The information asked for is given in the following table, for the principal types of utility goods; the annual rates of production in 1950 are based in each case on the most recent period for which figures are available.

Commodity Unit 1950 1949
Period Utility Production (annual rate) Column (4) as a percentage of total supplies for home civilian consumption Utility Production during the year Column (6) as a percentage of total supplies for home civilian consumption
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Woven non-wool cloth for clothing:—(a) Cotton and line … … Deliveries in mn. sq. yds. July-Sept. 288.7 58 244.11 62
Rayon and Nylon … … " " 190.9 68 146.03 63
Non-wool furnishing fabrics (a) (b) … … " " 45.2 53 32.11 51
Household textiles:(a) Towels (other than tea towels) … … Deliveries in th. articles " 20,800 73 19,493 74
Sheets … … " " 10,800 89 7,042 80
Pillowcases … … " " 12,800 69 7,285 64
Cotton blankets (incl. cot) … … " " 7,800 95 7,386 89
Ticking … … Deliveries in mn. sq. yds. " 19.0 75 17.21 78
Woven wool cloth for clothing (c) … … " " 217.2 86 196.45 68
Footwear (other than rubber) (d) … … Production in mn. pairs Apr.-June 124.87 96 129.39 95
Hosiery (d) (e) … … £m. (sales) May-July 87.76 83 85.77 87
Corsets and brassieres … … Production in th. articles June-Sept. 20,350 76 21,477 73
Bedding (f):— Mattresses … … Sales in th. articles June-Aug. 2,848 88 2,668 81
Bolsters … … " " 260 97 307 95
Pillows … … " " 1,964 91 1,917 85
Utility furniture:—
Principal items
Wardrobes … … Production in th articles Apr.-June 733 (g) 658 (g)
Dressing chests, dressing tables and tallboys … " " 873 936
Bedsteads (metal and wood) … … " " 1,115 1,163
Chairs (dining and kitchen) … … " " 2,804 2,787
Sideboards … … " " 367 402

Commodity Unit 1950 1949
Period Utility Production (annual rate) Column (4) as a percentage of total supplies for home civilian consumption Utility Production during the year Column (6) as a percentage of total supplies for home civilian consumption
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Utility furniture:—cont.
Principal items—cont.
Dining tables … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 572 (g) 528 (g)
Kitchen cabinets … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 231 173
Kitchen tables … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 88 78
Nursery furniture … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 369 361
Three piece suites:—
Easy chairs … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 975 982
Settees … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 416 434
Fireside and easy chairs … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 1,327 1,338
Bedchairs, bed settees and divans … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 418 313
Woven fibre and cane, etc. chairs and settees … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 367 293
Bookcases and sets of shelves … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 204 194
Occasional bedside tables and cabinets … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 731 503
Stools … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 198 119
Bureaux … Production in th. articles Apr.-June 136 116
(a) The figures for July-September, 1950 are provisional.
(b) Deliveries for transport organisations, hospitals and other institutions, which are all non-utility, are excluded.
(c) The figure given is an estimate of the percentage of utility deliveries to total supplies of apparel cloth for home consumption, including cloth for Government use and cloth for making-up into garments for export.
(d) Imports are included in the totals from which the percentages are calculated.
(e) Includes outerwear, underwear, socks, stockings and garments made-up from knitted fabric in the hosiery industry.
(f) Supplies for Government use, reckoned as non-utility, are included in the totals from which the percentages are calculated.
(g) No precise information is available. Estimates indicate that Utility furniture accounted for about 85 per cent. by value of total furniture production in both years.