§ 69. Mr. MARRIOTTasked the Prime Minister whether he has considered the petition presented to him early in November, 1919, on the subject of the reorganisation of the present system of official statistics on the foundation of a proper system of civil intelligence in the first place for the United Kingdom, and in the second place for the British Empire, and whether he will consent to receive a deputation on the subject?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANYes, Sir. It has been arranged that the matters raised in the Petition referred to shall receive very careful examination by the Statistical Officers concerned. The importance of these questions was fully recognised by the Imperial War Cabinet, who passed a resolution in accordance with which an Imperial Statistical Conference was assembled in London and is at present engaged in the discussion of measures for ensuring greater co-ordination and comparability of statistical records throughout the British Empire and for establishing an Imperial Bureau of Statistics. It is clearly desirable to await the presentation of the conclusions and recommendations of the Conference before deciding on the course to be followed in respect of the matters set out in the Petition. The President of the Board of Trade does not consider that any useful purpose would be served by the Prime Minister receiving a deputation until the conclusions and recommendations of the Conference have been considered.