§ MR. MITCHELL-THOMSON (Lanarkshire, N.W.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will state what progress has been made in carrying out the provisions of the Census of Production Act, 1906.
I beg also to ask the President of the Board of Trade when he will lay upon the Table of the House copies of the forms of inquiry drawn up for issuing to manufacturers in accordance with the provisions of the Census of Production Act, 1906.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThe Schedule relating to coal and ironstone mining has already been issued after the details were approved by the Advisory Committee appointed for that industry. A copy of this Schedule was laid upon the Table of the House in February last together with certain rules prescribed by the Board of Trade. A number of other schedules are now practically complete and will be laid upon the Table very shortly. It is hoped that about half the factories of the United Kingdom will be in receipt of their appropriate schedules by the end of the current month. For the purpose of considering the framing of the schedules under the Act, Advisory Committees were appointed by the Board of Trade for seventeen leading industries mainly consisting of representatives of trade associations and prominent manufacturers. Thirty-five meetings of these Committees have been held. In addition to these formal Committees, steps have been taken, by means of interviews at the Board of Trade, and by the employment of skilled investigators, who have visited manufacturers in various districts of the United Kingdom, to prepare schedules for the great majority of the industries of the country, in order that they may meet, as far as possible, the special conditions of each particular industry.