§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he is aware of the growing practice of 344W people and firms evading their responsibilities in registering under the Registration of Business Names Act; whether he will state, for the longest convenient period of time, the number of such reports of evasion made to his Department; what action he takes to ensure that registration is taking place; and how many prosecutions for evasion were undertaken for the most recent, and longest, stated period of time conveniently available.
§ Mr. RidleyThe number of complaints about failure to register was 114 in 1968, 136 in 1969 and 179 in 1970. On receipt of a complaint, the individual or company concerned is approached in writing, and if this attempt to secure compliance fails, an investigating officer calls. Where these attempts to secure compliance fail, the Department considers prosecution. The number of prosecutions was nil in 1968, 1 in 1969 and 1 in 1970.