§ Mr. Barnettasked the President of the Board of Trade how many inspectors have been appointed to investigate the affairs of limited companies in each of the past 10 years; on how many of these occasions private firms have been instructed to act on behalf of the Board of Trade; and what was the average length of time spent on each report.
§ Mr. Jay(1) The number of companies (73 in all) in respect of which inspectors have been appointed was for each of the 71W 10 years from the 30th September, 1956, to the 30th September, 1966, as follows:
1956–57, 2; 1957–58, 1; 1958–59, 4; 1959–60, 12; 1960–61, 8; 1961–62, 11; 1962–63, 8; 1963–64, 11; 1964–65, 5; 1965–66, 11.(2) During this period 42 barristers, 43 practising accountants and 1 actuary were appointed in 46 of the 73 cases.
(3) 17 months 2 weeks.