§ Mr. MYERSasked the Minister of Health whether, in view of the fact that the last Return on municipal trading was published in 1909, he will grant the Return standing in the name of the hon. Member for the Spen Valley?—[Municipal Trading (United Kingdom),—Return showing, for the London County Council, the Corporation of the City of London, the council of each Metropolitan borough, county councils, city councils, and county borough councils in England and Wales, and the Corporations of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen, the nature and extent and, for each of the years 1909 to 1914, inclusive, 2145W the financial results of reproductive municipal undertakings, including for each undertaking, separately, a short description thereof, date and terms of original acquisition or establishment or subsequent extension, how managed, capital employed and how obtained, value of the undertaking, capital paid off and outstanding, loan charges, provision for depreciation, gross income and expenditure, net profit or loss, how profit is allocated or loss met, amount of relief or burden to rates, number and salaries of the chief paid officials, number of workpeople, rate of wages paid in chief classes of labour, and prices charged for products or services supplied or rendered (in continuation of Parliamentary Paper, No. 171, of Session 1909).]
§ Sir A. MONDThe return which was issued in 1909 extended to over 1,000 pages, and entailed great cost and trouble in preparation. The return now asked for would be considerably longer than the previous one and the cost of preparation would be very much greater. So far as England and Wales are concerned, I am afraid I could not agree at the present time to the preparation of a new return on the lines suggested. I may, however, draw the attention of the hon. Member to the particulars which are contained in the published Local Taxation Returns for the year 1909–14 with regard to the principal classes of municipal trading undertakings.