HC Deb 17 May 1962 vol 659 c1502
2. Mr. Darling

asked the President of the Board of Trade why he does not intend to publish the report of his inquiry into resale price maintenance.

Mr. N. Macpherson

The inquiry into resale price maintenance was carried out by officials of the Board of Trade. In accordance with long-established practice, reports by officials to Ministers are not published.

Mr. Darling

Will the hon. Gentleman agree that this is a very important matter in our trading system which the House will have to consider and come to a decision about? Will he also agree that before we can do that we must have the fullest possible information? If this information is valuable, is there any way in which it can be made known to the House? Or was this inquiry as futile and useless as the previous inquiry into shopping habits?

Mr. Macpherson

To deal with the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, I take note of what he says. In fact, we are considering that.

Mr. Gresham Cooke

Would my hon. Friend agree that, since there have been three public inquiries into resale price maintenance in the last few years, it is unnecessary to have a Departmental one?

Mr. Macpherson

Of course, the situation changes both here and abroad.