§ Q6. Mr. Ridleyasked the Prime Minister if he will co-ordinate the activities of Ministers concerned with the accountability of nationalised industries that are diversifying.
§ The Prime MinisterTheir activities are already fully co-ordinated, Sir.
§ Mr. RidleyIs the Prime Minister aware that the Minister of Power has accepted full responsibility for making it clear to the industries under his control that where they diversify the subsidiaries should keep separate audited accounts? Is he also aware that the Minister of Transport has refused to order British Railways to do so in relation to the railway wagon works? Will he set right this anomaly?
§ The Prime MinisterI should have thought that railway wagon works were an essential part of railway working, which they were not allowed to be over many years. The case to which the hon. Gentleman refers concerning my right hon. Friend the Minister of Power is in respect of steel and brickworks. In the case of steel, there are fringe activities some distance from the steel industry proper. In the case of the brickworks which, quite properly, are run by the Coal Board, they are a separate activity and have a separate profit rating that must be reached.