HC Deb 10 November 1969 vol 791 cc19-20
20. Mr. Lubbock

asked the Minister of Technology when he expects to receive the report of his Advisory Committee on Units of Measurement on the decimal marker to be used for metric quantities.

Mr. Alan Williams

Decimal notation for metric quantities is a standardisation problem; in this country it is a responsibility of the British Standards Institution and, worldwide, of the International Standards Organisation. If my right hon. Friend's Advisory Committee on Legal Units of Measurement has views on this matter, they will be put to B.S.I. to assist in the formulation of national and international recommendations.

Mr. Lubbock

Is not it true that the Advisory Committee on Units of Measurement is taking advice from industry and that this problem should be resolved on an a priori basis; on the basis that Continental industry already uses the comma, that it clearly delineates between metric and Imperial measures and is less likely to be confused with the dot notation in multiplication? Will the Minister kindly make a decision on this basis, so that the uncertainty may be ended and, in particular, new text books may be printed as soon as possible?

Mr. Williams

Our ambitions go far wider than the hon. Gentleman goes. Although the comma is used on the Continent, it is not the form which is used in many parts of the world. At this stage we are trying to establish whether or not an international consensus on the comma or the dot can be achieved.