§ Mr. Lewisasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will publish in HANSARD details of the recent offers he has received by tender for the whole of his Department's stock of softwood timber, together with details of the further sales made by negotiation, the offers received from Montague L. Meyer Limited for the whole of the stocks, and the results of the negotiated sale to this firm of the balance remaining.
§ Mr. ErrollThe tenders to which the hon. Member is referring were submitted by 12th February in respect of about 52,500 standards of softwood. Bids were received from sixty-four firms. Only one offer for the whole of the Board of Trade stock was made: this was from Montague L. Meyer Limited, and proved unacceptable. Tenders for individual parcels amounting in total to about 2,900 standards were accepted. Since then further sales totalling about 4,700 standards have been concluded by negotiation.
As to the balance of about 45,000 standards, a later offer was received from Montague L. Meyer Limited, and after negotiation this stock was sold to them. It would be contrary to the usual practice to publish details.