§ MR. LANE-FOX (Yorkshire, W.R. Barkston Ash)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether complaint has been made to the Board by the West Riding County Council of the impracticability of the regulations of 1907, made under the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, which requires that local authorities' inspectors shall inspect the weights and measures of all traders on their premises once a year; whether on the request of the council, the Board have relaxed that rule to the extent of a biennial instead of an annual inspection; 76 and whether the Board will use the power reserved to them in the regulations to grant further relaxation, in view of the complaint of the West Riding Council as to the inconvenience and expense of its administration in its present form, especially in rural districts.
§ MR. CHURCHILLComplaint has been made by the West Riding County Council of the requirement of the Weights and Measures Regulations, 1907, that all traders' premises shall be inspected once a year, and the Board of Trade have informed the council that they are prepared to extend the period to two years, but that they have no power under the present regulations to extend the period further.
§ MR. LANE-FOXBut under the regulations is not dispensing power given to the Board?
§ MR. CHURCHILLI am advised that that power is only for a limited period of years.