§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Reportdetails, for the past three years, of the percentage of his Department's textile purchases spun and woven overseas, the square yards represented by such purchases, the value of the purchases, their country of origin and of any advice given by him to local authorities in Scotland to buy British textiles.
§ Mr. MillanThe following information is available for the period June 1974-May 1977:
Square yardage of textiles purchased by Scottish Office Value £ United Kingdom 2,306,000 1,830,000 Non United Kingdom 644,000 358,000 Percentage of purchases from abroad 28% 20% Detailed information about the country of origin of overseas purchases is not available.
My predecessor wrote to local authorities on 17th October 1975 asking them to ensure that as far as possible their requirements of textiles, clothing and footwear should be purchased from 451W British manufacturers using British materials.