HC Deb 07 March 1957 vol 566 cc519-20
39. Dr. D. Johnson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will extend the terms of reference of the inquiry into the complaints of the public house managers of the Carlisle State Management Scheme to cover all major matters of dispute between the managers' representatives and his Department.

Mr. Simon

No, Sir.

Dr. Johnson

Is not my hon. and learned Friend aware that there are other matters vitally affecting both the status and the responsibilities of these managers which they wish to have included in this inquiry? Would he not agree to revise these terms so that the whole of their complaints in the matter can be inquired into satisfactorily?

Mr. Simon

I know that there have been other types of complaint made in relation to the Carlisle Scheme, but none of them is suitable for submission to a single commissioner who is inquiring into the specific allegations that have been referred to.

40. Dr. D. Johnson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the terms of reference of the forthcoming inquiry into the allegations made by the Civil Service Union on behalf of the public house managers of the Carlisle State Management Scheme affect fundamentally the original principles and purpose of the scheme, which was to take the profit out of alcohol; and if he will, therefore, hold the inquiry in public.

Mr. Simon

No, Sir. The basis of the Scheme is disinterested management. This does not mean, and never has meant, that the Scheme should not make a profit. It means that there is no financial inducement to any individual to push the sale of alcohol. The terms of reference of the forthcoming inquiry do not affect this principle in any way.

Dr. Johnson

Does not my hon. and learned Friend agree that pressure to produce profits from the sale of alcohol is just as reprehensible in a State scheme as it is in other organisations and, consequently, a matter of public as well as of private concern?