HC Deb 19 July 1996 vol 281 cc732-3W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list for(a) 1975, (b) 1979 and (c) 1995 in terms of current and constant values United Kingdom imports and exports of footwear with (i) leather soles and (ii) uppers of leather or composition leather. [38174]

Mr. Oppenheim

The information requested is not available.

Mr. Mitchell

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the effect of the change in the real value of sterling since the second half of 1973 on the reduction in output and employment in the footwear industry. [38173]

Mr. Oppenheim

To isolate the effects of currency movements from other influences on the output and employment of individual industries would be a major research task, which the Department has not undertaken.

Mr. Mitchell

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the value in constant prices of United Kingdom imports and exports of footwear in 1975, 1979 and 1995. [38172]

Mr. Oppenheim

Information in constant prices is not available. Current price figures for United Kingdom imports and exports of footwear are published by HM Customs and Excise in "overseas trade statistics of the United Kingdom" which is available in the Library of the House.

Mr. Mitchell

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will estimate the effect on the level of(a) imports and (b) exports of footwear of the change in real value of the pound since the second quarter of 1993. [38175]

Mr. Oppenheim

Information on the levels of United Kingdom trade in footwear, and the real effective exchange rate since the second quarter of 1993 are given in the table. To isolate the effect of exchange rate movements from other major influences on UK trade would be a major research tasks, which the Department has not undertaken.

UK trade in Footwear
Imports £ million Exports current price Real effective exchange rate (1990=100)
1993
Q1 323 97 86.6
Q2 278 84 88.7
Q3 310 107 90.2
Q4 323 131 90.2
1994
Q1 395 130 90.7
Q2 335 107 89.1
Q3 363 122 87.9
Q4 348 117 89.1
1995
Q1 409 130 87.2
Q2 345 107 84.3
Q3 389 143 84.3
Q4 385 130 83.5
1996
Q1 470 156 83.5

Sources:

Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, HM Customs and Excise.

Economic Trends, Office for National Statistics.