§ 22. Mr. John Hyndasked the Minister of Power why his circular of 18th March, 1968, alleging that inaccurate information was being supplied to his Department and drawing attention to the penalties for knowingly or recklessly making a false statement, was circulated to all ironfounders and was specifically addressed at the same time to individual firms implying that these firms were guilty; and what steps he proposes to take to remove the misapprehensions this has aroused amongst reputable firms.
§ Mr. FreesonMy right hon. Friend's predecessor and I have written to my hon. Friend and the Department has written to the few ironfounders who complained about the circular to remove any misapprehensions it may have caused.
§ Mr. HyndWill my hon. Friend be good enough to make it quite clear to all concerned that this rather inept circular was wrongly addressed to the wrong people, and that this kind of exercise will not occur again?
§ Mr. FreesonWe thought that it would be right not to single out particular companies about whose figures there were some doubts. Therefore, there was a general circular, though we agree that a mistake was made in having individual names and addresses added to it at the dispatch stage.