§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Industry what is the volume and quality and price of goods produced by the wool textile industry in Yorkshire; how much of its products were exported; and if he will show the present figure compared to 1970 and 1974.
1972 1974 1977 Tops— mn. kg. … … … 80.0 60.4 59.4 £mn. … … … 72.5 95.8 135.7 £/kg. … … … 0.9 1.6 2.3 Woollen and worsted yarns— mn. kg. … … … 188.4 159.4 151.3 £mn. … … … 249.2 336.2 496.0 £/kg. … … … 1.3 2.1 3.3 Woollen and worsted fabrics— mn. sq. metres … … … 172.2 152.5 138.7 £mn. … … … 153.7 214.5 288.7 £/sq. metre … … … 0.9 1.4 2.1 Blankets— mn. sq. metres … … … 30.8 32.2 30.9 £mn. … … … 14.8 19.7 21.1 £/sq. metre … … … 0.5 0.6 0.7 Other wool textile products— £mn … … … 44.4 65.4 94.6 Total sales— £mn … … … 534.6 731.6 1,036.1 Note: Comparable figures for years before 1972 are not available. Man-made fibre and mixture products of the wool textile industry are included in the above figures. It is estimated that the value of total exports of wool textiles was:
1972 1974 1977 Total exports— £mn … … … … … … 149.0 235.8 392.9 The figure for 1977 is not fully comparable with those of the earlier years. Source: Business Monitors PQ 414 and M.10.
§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he plans to issue guidance to firms in Yorkshire which are in the wool textile industry to relocate themselves to areas closer to the coast.
§ Mr. CryerI have no plans to issue guidance about relocation to any wool textile firms in Yorkshire and in my recent response to the working party report on wool scouring effluent and water charges I made it clear that the Government were not prepared to support studies of the effect and cost of relocation.