§ Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the President of the Board of Trade what recent estimate he has made of the number of off-licensed outlets for the sales of wines, spirits and beer; and, in view of differences between the figures for the number of off-licences owned by brewers as noted in the Report by the National Board for Prices and Incomes on Costs, Prices and Profits in the Brewing Industry, Command Paper No. 2965 and the report by the Monopolies Commission of 24th April, 1969, what is the present number owned by breweries.
§ Mr. DellThe figures given by the Monopolies Commission are for "off-licensed" premises, and do not include fully licensed premises which sell for both "on" and "off" consumption.
The total number of these off-licences in force in 1968 in the United Kingdom is 30,628. The Commission estimated that in 1967 some 5,000 of these were in the hands of wholesalers who do not maintain retail premises, so that the total number of off-licensed premises 99W selling wines, beer and spirits to the public may currently be about 25,000.
The figures given by the Monopolies Commission for the total number of off-licensed premises owned by brewers (9,084 in 1967) were based upon a special survey, and I am satisfied that they are accurate.