HC Deb 03 November 1955 vol 545 cc1184-7
9. Mr. Wade

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he has taken to implement the Report of the Monopolies Commission on the Supply and Export of certain Semi-Manufactures of Copper and Copper-Based Alloys.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

I have drawn the attention of the trade bodies concerned to the Report and invited their observations on its conclusions and recommendations.

Mr. Wade

Can the right hon. Gentleman say how the existing procedure will be related to the new procedure under the proposed legislation? If, for example, no action is taken on the Report of the Monopolies Commission, will that be regarded as absolving the firms concerned of any necessity to apply to the new tribunal, when it is set up?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I think that question raises much wider issues which will no doubt be discussed when the legislation is introduced.

10. Mr. Wade

asked the President of the Board of Trade the terms of reference under which the Monopolies Commission has been asked to inquire into the subject of common prices and level tendering; and whether he has yet received a report.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave yesterday to my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle (Mr. Shepherd).

Mr. Wade

I have read the Answer. Will the reference include uneven tendering, by which I mean collusive tendering of quotations of different amounts, many of which are excessive, with the object of ensuring that a particular firm will get a contract as a result of a prearranged, secret agreement between all the contractors?

Mr. Thorneyeroft

Collusive tendering is covered. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will study the terms of reference.

Mr. H. Wilson

Can the right hon. Gentleman hold out any hope to the members of the Monopolies Commission that he is any more likely to take action on this report, when it is received, than was the case on the majority Report on Collective Discrimination?

Mr. Thorneyeroft

The action which I announced goes somewhat further than the majority Report.

11. Mr. Wade

asked the President of the Board of Trade the terms of reference under which the Monopolies Commission has been asked to inquire into restrictive practices affecting the supply of tea.

Mr. P. Thorneyeroft

As the terms of reference are rather long I will, with permission, circulate the full text in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Wade

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether there is any system of priorities in dealing with the subjects referred to the Monopolies Commission, as in the case of tea, which has a direct and important bearing on the household budget? Is it practicable to arrange for the report to be provided more speedily than is normally the case between a reference and the report?

Mr. Thorneyeroft

The same procedure has to be gone through in each case. I think that the determination of priorities is determined by the order in which these references are made.

Following are the terms of reference: Whereas it appears to the Board of Trade that it is or may be the fact that conditions to which the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices (Inquiry and Control) Act, 1948, applies prevail as respects the supply of tea: Now therefore the Board in pursuance of Section 2 (1) of the said Act hereby refers to the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission for investigation and report the matter of such supply. The Commission shall as respects such supply investigate and report on
  1. (1) whether the conditions to which the Act applies in fact prevail and if so in what manner and to what extent;
  2. (2) the things which are done by the parties concerned as a result of or for the purpose of preserving those conditions; and
  3. (3) whether the conditions in question or all or any of the things done as aforesaid operate or may be expected to operate against the public interest.
21. Mr. Hale

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that there is a ring in the production of motor car parts which combines to ensure that more than one-third of the parts supplied in this country are supplied only to persons approved by the producers; that one of the effects of this practice has been to throw out of employment a considerable number of workers at the Armature Manufacturing Company of Oldham; and whether he will refer the practices of this trade to the Monopolies Commission.

Mr. P. Thorneyeroft

I am aware that restrictive practices exist in the supply of garage equipment and that employment in the company mentioned may have been affected thereby. Supply of goods to approved persons only is a practice dealt with in the report of the Monopolies Commission on Collective Discrimination and the Government have already announced their intentions in regard to legislation in this field.

Mr. Hale

Will the President of the Board of Trade bear in mind that in the Report there are a few casual words about this particular association, and no more. I am informed that this is an extremely well-equipped firm, producing complex electrical-testing apparatus for high-combustion engines. It has a very fine reputation, and formerly supplied Her Majesty's Government. When such a firm is told that none of its products can be marketed in this country by any wholesaler who is a member of this ring, unless and until it joins the ring, is that not a matter for immediate action?

Mr. Thorneycroft

This arises out of a dispute between the firm and the ring on the collective enforcement of resale price maintenance, and as that lies at the centre of the legislation which I have announced, I do not think that any previous action can be taken.

22. Mr. Hale

asked the president of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that one of the members of the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission, whose name has been supplied to him, is at present a director of a company operating, and prominently associated with, an association operating a monopolistic or restrictive practice; and whether he will take steps in the future to ensure that members of the commission have no such connection.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

Yes, Sir, and as is customary in such cases the member concerned has informed me of his business associations and it is with my express approval that he continues as a member of the Commission. The answer to the second part of the Question is, "No, Sir." No useful purpose would indeed be served by seeking to staff the Commission exclusively with men who had no knowledge or experience whatever of any kind of restrictive practice in industry.

Mr. Hale

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that one member of the Commission, who is managing director of the dominating firm in a ring, sat as a member of the Commission that investigated the activities of the ring? Does not that display a somewhat curious attitude to natural justice?

Mr. Thorneycroft

What the member did was to investigate the question of collective boycott and exclusive dealing. I think that it says something for his impartiality that he signed the majority Report.

Mr. Lewis

Is it not a classical example of how Tory freedom works?

23. Mr. Janner

asked the President of the Board of Trade the terms of reference under which the Monopolies Commission has been asked to inquire into restrictive practices of manufacturers of slide fasteners.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

I have not asked the Monopolies Commission to inquire into restrictive practices of manufacturers of slide fasteners.

Mr. Janner

These slide fasteners are being sold at precisely the same price by all manufacturers and, obviously, there is a ring. These articles are extremely useful in the hosiery and allied trades in Leicester and elsewhere. Is not the action suggested in my Question the only method by which a reduction in prices can be achieved?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman for letting me have certain papers, which I have forwarded to the Commission in connection with the inquiry into common prices.