§ Mr. LAMBERTasked tin; President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the number of local committees that have ben formed up to the present under the Profiteering Act, the total number of prosecutions, the proportion which have been successful, and the total amount of fines received up to the present; whether any licences have been issued to the local authorities to trade under the Act and if they have been taken advantage of; and whether he has any information showing whether the Act has reduced the cost of living?
§ Sir A. GEDDESIn answer to the first part of the right hon. Member's question, 1,772 local committees have been established by local authorities under the Profiteering Act. As all the local committees have not yet reported to the Board of Trade, I am unable to give the exact number of cases in which prosecutions have actually taken place. The reports which have, up to the present, been received from local committees show that prosecutions have been ordered in forty-one cases. In three of the four cases which have so far 657W been reported as heard, fines were inflicted, and the fourth case was dismissed with costs. The total fines and costs imposed amount to £46 6s. At present no authority to trade has been granted under Section 4 of the Act to local authorities. While I am of opinion that the Profiteering Act has tended to reduce prices generally, it is impossible at present to state the effect of the Act more precisely.