§ MR. BARNARDI beg to ask the Prime Minister how the calculation proposing to reduce the on-licences from about 97,000 to 68,000 is arrived at; whether it professes to give to each of the licensing districts exactly the maximum number of licences permitted by Schedule I of the Licensing Bill; and, if not, to state the deviations.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI beg to answer this Question on behalf of my right hon. friend. I can only repeat what, I and my colleagues have said before, that the calculation that some 30,000 or 32,000 licences will be extinguished under the statutory reduction provided for in the Licensing Bill does not profess to rest on an exact assignment of licences to particular areas, but represents the best estimate which the Government could 1701 make for the purpose of assisting the House to judge roughly the total effect of the statutory reduction.