Iron and Steel Board (Report)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 27 July 1962.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Hon. Richard Wood Hon. Richard Wood , Bridlington 12:00, 27 July 1962

I am sure that it is, and I am also sure that the hon. Member will have a chance to develop thoughts which I think I see in his brain.

This new system of pricing will need practice, and the Iron and Steel Federation, with the encouragement of the Board and my own full support, plans to hold a rahearsal if and when it is reasonably certain that we shall enter the Community, subject, of course, to continued supervision by the Board

The Board's other important power at present under Section 6 of the Iron and Steel Act is to veto investment, but, naturally, because of the possibility of conflict with the High Authority in the event of Britain's joining the European Coal and Steel Community, the Board would not be able properly to continue to exercise this power of veto. Therefore, these two important powers, fixing maximum prices and vetoing investments, will go if we join the Community and, naturally, the loss of these two powers by the Board raises the question of its future.

I am giving and shall continue to give this very careful thought, but I should like to tell the House that my consideration so far suggests that a decision to join the Community would not necessarily mean that the Board should be wound up. The High Authority's duty will be to the Community as a whole, but Her Majesty's Government is clearly vitally interested in the well-being of our own steel industry at home. In my opinion, the Board has shown itself in the past to be an effective instrument of supervision, and I feel that we should examine the possibility of adapting the Iron and Steel Board to continue supervision over certain aspects of development.

It is much too early to take a final decision about the best organisation for the future, but it would be very unwise lightly to annihilate this body which has performed a most useful function for nearly a decade and which may well have a useful part to play, particularly as the work of the National Economic Development Council develops.

I have tried to give a picture of the present state of the industry and of its development preparations for the future. Things are not easy either for the industry or in the economy at the moment. This was fully debated yesterday, and I do not think that this would be the opportunity for me to recapitulate it. It will be some time before there is a substantial improvement, but the upturn in the economy will now be backed by a sufficient capacity in this industry not only in quantity but in quality, among the most modern and up to date in the world.

The steed industry is in good shape preparing and prepared for future expansion, and this at a time when we may be entering the Common Market when we shall be needing all the help that we can get from such plant towards improving our balance of payments by direct steel exports and by offering first-class material at a low cost to our engineering industry on which our future prosperity must depend.