HC Deb 12 February 1969 vol 777 cc1304-6
21. Mr. Sharples

asked the President of the Board of Trade to how many general printing and publishing firms census of production forms were sent on 1st January, 1969, on behalf of the Business Statistics Office.

Mr. Dell

11,742 forms were issued on the 1st January, 1969, to firms in the general printing and publishing industry.

Mr. Sharples

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that this form contains more than a hundred detailed questions requiring such vital information as the number of jam pot covers and bottle caps sold during;: he previous 12 months? What estimate has been made of the number of hours of non-productive work required in small firms to produce these answers? Is not this an example of Bureaucracy gone stark staring mad?

Mr. Dell

Of the number of forms I mentioned nearly 8,000 were simplified questionnaires sent to establishments with fewer than 25 persons employed. The forms have been sent out as part of the 1968 census of production. There have been censuses of production in this country at intervals since 1907. They provide both the Government and industry with essential information which industry needs as much as the Government.

Mr. Gwilym Roberts

Would my hon. Friend not agree that these forms were prepared by qualified statisticians who presumably evaluated the questions to be asked? Would he not further agree that a great number of man hours and a lot of unnecessary labour was due to a high proportion of these forms not being returned forthwith? Can he tell the House what proportion of these forms were returned?

Mr. Dell

The forms have only recently been issued and we would not expect a significant proportion of them to be returned yet. This is essential information, and I would have thought it the common view of the House that it is important to have statistical information for the use of industry, comparable with that available anywhere else in the world.

Mr. Higgins

As the hon. Gentleman has been talking about last year's Bradshaw, can he tell us when this census will be available for industry?

Mr. Dell

I hope that it will be available in the course of the next few years. I entirely agree that there is a very considerable delay in the production of cen suses of production. The 1963 census of production was very badly delayed. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that we are now introducing a new and improved system for this purpose, which will combine quarterly returns with annual returns, and make information very much more speedily available than has been the case in the past.

Mr. Kenneth Lewis

Would it not be better if the Minister allowed industry to decide what kind of information it wishes to collect, through its own associations, instead of the Government coming in?

Mr. Dell

We consult with the industries concerned before we put out these census forms. In the case of the general printing and publishing firms, we had consultations with the industry, as we always do.

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