§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the case of which commodities, according to the latest available information, do four or less companies control, respectively, at least 80 per cent. and at least 50 per cent. of the relevant market; what is the value of the total net assets of all companies operating in the market for each of these commodities; and in the case of which these commodity markets has an investigation been carried out by the Monopolies Commission and with what results.
§ Sir G. HoweI regret that the information asked for about four-firm concentration ratios is not available, but I draw the hon. Member's attention to the five-firm concentration ratios based on 1963 data published in table 5, section 131, of the report of the Census of Production, Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1970. I expect similar information based on the 1968 Census of Production to be published early next year.
For the list of goods whose supply has been the subject of a Monopolies Commission report, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to his Question of yesterday. The action taken on these reports is described in the annual reports presented to Parliament under the Monopolies and Mergers Act 1948 and 1965.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the case of the answers given, respectively, to the hon. Member for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Joel Barnett) on 6th April 1970, columns 25–27, and to the hon. Member for Bedford (Mr. Skeet) on 5th March 1973, column 13, regarding commodities and industries where a single company held more than a given share of the market, what were the industrial classifications used, and what is the total number 691W of commodities and industries of which the lists given formed part.
§ Sir G. HoweThe classifications used were sub-divisions of the Standard Industrial Classification employed in the 1963 Census of Production. The total number of industries and commodities on which information was collected in that census was 4,087.