§ 24. Sir John Mellorasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he proposes to amend S.I., 1946, Nos. 1413 and 1415 so as to make them intelligible.
§ Mr. H. WilsonBoth S.R. & O. 1946 No. 1413 and S.I. 1948 No. 13 (which replaced S.R. & O. 1946 No. 1415) are being amended and consolidated, but I cannot promise any great simplification. Our general experience is that the 516 vast majority of manufacturers both understand and substantially comply with the provisions of these and similar orders.
§ Sir J. MellorIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that on 1st February a firm was prosecuted at the Old Bailey for alleged offences against these orders and that after four days' hearing the jury said that the orders were too complicated to be understood, whereupon the judge directed an acquittal; what is the use of the right hon. Gentleman making more orders if no one can understand them?
§ Mr. David RentonWill the Minister say whether it is the intention of his Department to make these orders understandable only by the experts concerned or is it their purpose to make them intrinsically clear?
§ Mr. WilsonIt would not be appropriate for me to comment on the remarks made in court. I have been given to understand that within the trade the orders are fairly widely understood. Of course, as long as it is necessary to control prices in the footwear industry at cost plus, it is extremely difficult to find any simplification of the procedure, but we are trying to do that.