§ Mr. Arnold Shawasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his Department's activities to further United Kingdom construction exports.
§ Mr. FreesonMy right hon. Friend proposes, in conjunction with his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade, to set up a new Construction Exports Advisory Board. The board will have as its immediate remit the task of advising my right hon. Friends on the selection of firms or groups of firms to pursue particular construction projects overseas; and, generally, on ways of harnessing additional resources in the construction industry and professions to meet export opportunities. I shall be announcing the membership in due course.
The new advisory board will be jointly serviced by the Departments of Environment and Trade, and will provide a common focus for my right hon. Friend's particular responsibilities for sponsorship of the construction industries and those of his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade for exports generally.
Within my own Department I have created a new directorate on the construction industry side to concentrate on overseas sponsorship of the United Kingdom construction industry, and particularly on exports.
I believe that these arrangements are necessary to secure the participation of 379W the United Kingdom construction industries and professions on an even wider scale than hitherto in overseas construction markets, and I hope that they will be welcomed by the industry as an assurance of the Government's intentions to further their export efforts.