Capital Issues Committee (Hansard, 17 April 1958)

§ 29. Mr. Grimond
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish an annual report of the work of the Capital Issues Committee.

§ Mr. Maudling
No, Sir. I do not think that this is necessary, but statistics giving the result of applications to the Committee are now published at quarterly intervals in the Monthly Digest of Statistics.

§ Mr. Grimond
May I ask the right hon. Gentleman to think about this again? I think it is regrettable that the Committee should be a permanent part of the Government's financial machinery, but it is; and we are now, are we not, in a position in which the Government are making use of it for very important assistance to areas of unemployment? Should not this House be told what is being done and on what basis the Committee is making these decisions?

§ Mr. Maudling
The principles on which the Committee is operating are always made known to the House by means of Question and Answer.

§ Mr. D. Price
Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that many of us on this side of the House feel that in tidying up the C.I.C. higher priority should be given to giving it statutory form? Would he consider, while tidying up Defence Regulations and giving them statutory form, giving statutory form to the C.I.C.?

§ Mr. Maudling
I am certainly prepared to consider that, but I think that there are other hon. Friends of mine who might take a rather contrary view.