HC Deb 06 April 1950 vol 473 c1363
56. Lieut.-Commander Braithwaite

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many meetings of the National Investment Council were held during 1949.

Mr. Jay

None, Sir. As my right hon. and learned Friend informed the House on 7th December, 1948, he decided that it was no longer necessary to summon this Council, since the main purpose for which it was set up was being achieved in other ways.

Lieut.-Commander Braithwaite

Is this not a statutory body, which was proclaimed amidst a flourish of trumpets by the present Minister of Town and Country Planning, and embodied in the Borrowing (Control and Guarantees) Act, 1946? Is it not melancholy that it should so soon have fallen into desuetude?

Mr. Jay

No, the hon. and gallant Gentleman is wrong. It was not statutory. It was set up by administrative action.

Captain Duncan

Is the reason why it has not met because there is nothing to invest?