§ Mr. Tilneyasked the President of the Board of Trade, in spite of his Department's factories now vacant, whether he will build an advance factory on Merseyside.
§ Mr. N. Pannellasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in order to combat unemployment on Merseyside, he will authorise the building of an advance factory in that area.
§ Sir D. EcclesOut of 1,100 factories in the possession of the Board of Trade, there are 41 vacant. I intend to advertise more widely the merits of these vacant premises and at the same time to make an experiment by building one advance factory of standard pattern on three sites to be selected, one in England, one in Scotland and one in Wales. This experiment should demonstrate whether or not vacant premises in difficult areas are an attraction to industrialists. I will keep the claims of Merseyside in mind.