§ 11. Sir John Mellorasked the Minister of Labour what instructions he gave to manufacturers of materials and semi-finished products for estimating in their monthly returns the number of employees engaged on work for export, having regard to the fact that usually 1057 they would not know the ultimate destination of goods sold for manufacture in the United Kingdom; and what consequent probable error is attached by him to the aggregate figures in his "Monthly Digest."
§ Mr. IsaacsI am sending the hon. Member copies of a leaflet and the form itself which contain the relevant notes and instructions. I have no reason to believe that the procedure leads to material errors in the aggregate figures.
§ Sir J. MellorWill the right hon. Gentleman agree that many of these manufacturers cannot possibly know the ultimate destination of a large proportion of their goods and that these statistics must, therefore, necessarily be unreliable?
§ Mr. IsaacsNo, Sir. We do not accept that. Of course, there may not be 100 per cent. accuracy, but from the inquiries we have made and the information which is sent out to obtain the figures we think they are fairly reliable. If, when the hon. Member has read the papers, he thinks we can make them more clear, I shall be glad to discuss the matter with him.