HC Deb 10 July 1968 vol 768 cc499-503
7. Sir T. Beamish

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that a false impression is given in this country and abroad because of the publication of monthly import and export figures which take no account of the estimated average gain on invisible exports; and if he will include such an estimate in future.

Mr. Crosland

A figure for invisible earnings is now included in the monthly statement on the import and export figures. I think their importance is becoming increasingly understood.

Sir T. Beamish

Since there has been a favourable balance on visible trading account only seven times in the last 175 years, would it not be sensible to incorporate an estimate of the invisible earnings actually in the tables rather than in the accompanying text? Would not this avoid the risk of good figures being made to look bad and bad figures, as at present, being made to look terrible?

Mr. Crosland

I entirely share the objective the hon. and gallant Gentleman has in mind. He is right to stress to the House how important invisibles have historically been to our trading account as a whole. The difficulty here is a technical one which has been discussed in the House before—that no method has yet been found under successive Governments of getting the invisible monthly figures in time to incorporate them in the monthly trade figures.

15. Mr. Lane

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the various recommendations in the report of the Bland Committee on Great Britain's invisible earnings which are still being considered by the Government.

20. Mr. Hall-Davis

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many meetings have been held by the permanent Committee on Invisible Exports.

51. Mr. Kenneth Baker

asked the President of the Board of Trade what recommendations have so far been made to him by the permanent Committee on Invisible Exports; and when the report of the Committee will be published.

Mr. Crosland

The Committee has held one meeting and plans to hold another next week. In between these quarterly meetings, ad hoc sub-committees are considering particular problems; and the reactions of the interested bodies to the recommendations of the Bland Committee are being assembled. So far as action by the Government is concerned, I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Member for Acton (Mr. Kenneth Baker) on 29th May.—[Vol. 765, c. 1817–8.]

Mr. Lane

It is now nine months since the Bland Committee reported. Is it not possible for the Government to speed up decisions on the various recommendations on which only Government Departments can take action?

Mr. Crosland

We have taken action already on a number of the recommendations, as I have announced in the House. I should like to speed up any action which the Government ought properly to take. There are so many recommendations that, after thinking of listing them in my Answer, I decided that to do so would make it too long. However, if the hon. Gentleman has one about which he is concerned, I shall be happy to answer a Question on it.

Mr. Hall-Davis

How often, and by what means, will the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee on Invisible Exports be published?

Mr. Crosland

I regret to say that I cannot answer that without notice. If the hon. Gentleman will put down a Question, I shall find out from the Committee, which is an autonomous body not under the control of the Government. I shall ascertain whether the Committee intends to publish anything. I understand that it does not intend to produce any formal reports but it intends to make recommendations, whether to the Government or to private bodies. I shall check on that and write to the hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

Is not the right hon. Gentleman somewhat dissatisfied with the rate of growth in invisible earnings over the past three or four years, and will he consider making one of his Ministerial colleagues specifically responsible for invisible earnings, which are essential to the country's solvency?

Mr. Crosland

No, Sir, we do not need a special Minister in charge of invisible earnings, almost the whole of which fall within the purview of either the Chancellor of the Exchequer or myself. Lest the hon. Gentleman is dissatisfied with the position, I can inform him that the average annual rate of invisible earnings over the last four years was £150 million whereas in the first quarter of this year it was running at an average rate of £345 million a year.

Mr. Barnett

Although invisible receipts are good, are not invisible payments worth study, in particular, the outflow on investment here? Will my right hon. Friend consider the implications of this and the dangers inherent in it, in that we might be taking action in allowing investment here for short-term balance of payment gains which might do us long-term harm?

Mr. Crosland

These matters are certainly worthy of study, and I shall give a great deal of attention to the dangers and implications which my hon. Friend has brought to my attention. I gather that he is not calling for any basic change in Government policy.

Mr. Patrick Jenkin

The House will welcome the belated conversion of the Government to a recognition of the value of invisible earnings in our balance of payments, but will the President of the Board of Trade accept that this will not carry conviction until we see the results in changed fiscal policy, exchange control policy and policy on overseas investment?

Mr. Crosland

It is an innocent enough pastime for the hon. Gentleman to score his little party point. The only thing which will carry conviction to the country as a whole is the figure which I have already given for the rise in the invisible surplus from an average over the last four years of £150 million to an annual rate in the first quarter of this year of £345 million.

Mr. Dickens

Does my right hon. Friend recall the remarks of his right hon. Friend the present Chancellor of the Exchequer some years ago when he said that the foreign exchange earnings of British industry were 100 times more important to this country than the foreign exchange earnings of the City of London? Does he appreciate that not all of us share the enthusiasm for invisible exports, believing that they have been bought at heavy cost—

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman must learn to ask brief questions.

Mr. Dickens

—and may we be assured that the Committee on Invisible Exports will examine this aspect of the matter as well as other aspects?

Mr. Crosland

I have been a great student of both the speeches and the writings of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but I confess that I do not recall that remark in a fairly voluminous output of words over the past 20 years or so. But I take the point which my hon. Friend has in mind. I shall consider the matter, but one must make plain that, given that invisibles are of great importance to this country in our current account, what we want is the largest possible surplus on invisibles.

25. Mr. Fletcher-Cooke

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken by the British National Export Council to study the question of how far the present system of visible export missions can be extended in its present form, where appropriate, to invisible exports.

Mr. Crosland

No such steps are necessary, since the mission scheme already applies, where appropriate, to invisible exports.

Mr. Fletcher-Cooke

Was not this a strong recommendation of the Bland Committee? Does the hon. Gentleman say that it is already in operation?

Mr. Crosland

It was a recommendation of the Committee, but, as the Government pointed out in the Bland Report, the recommendation seems to have been based on a misapprehension of the present position. The fact is that the mission schemes previously applied, and still applies where appropriate, to invisible exports.