Mr. William O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what has been the value of imports of building materials into the United Kingdom for each of the past three years;
(2) what percentage of building materials used in the United Kingdom is imported; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BaldryThe value, in current prices, of imports of building materials into the United Kingdom are:
Imports £ billions 1990 4.70 1991 4.03 1992 4.04 1993 13.01 1 First three quarters only. The information used by the Department to derive imports is not yet available for the fourth quarter of 1993.
Available data indicate that the value of imports are about a fifth of the total used by the construction industry. This excludes the DIY market and the black economy whose usage of building materials cannot be readily be quantified. The value of imports compares with exports of £2.31 billion during 1992 and £1.93 billion during the first three quarters of 1993.
I am, however, concerned at the level of United Kingdom imports of high value construction products. The Department is currently working closely with the industry-led construction procurement group on a series of measures to improve competitiveness in building products.