§ 89. Mr. Pickthornasked the Minister of Fuel and Power on how many building projects, under his auspices, there is now a standstill for want of steel.
§ Mr. P. Noel-BakerI am aware that, owing to shortage of steel, work has temporarily stopped on various parts of some building projects authorised by my Department. I regret that information about the exact number of such projects, and the kind of work affected, is not available.
It will now be possible, however, to claim preferential treatment for the steel requirements in such cases under the interim scheme, announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 28th June, to safeguard the requirements of important civilian production and the fuel and power programmes.