§ Mr. Cantasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will publish an estimate of the cost of preparing the report by the Social Survey Division of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, "Shopping Habits and Attitudes to Shop Hours"; explain 229W the delay of four and a half years in publishing its findings; and indicate the value of the surveys to planning authorities and others.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe survey on shopping habits and attitudes to shop hours in Great Britain formed part of a larger study, costing £35,000, designed to provide information also on public attitudes to liquor licensing laws. The results of the liquor licensing survey were made available to the Erroll Committee and the Clayson Committee on Liquor Licensing in 1971–72.
It was subsequently considered that there would be sufficient public interest in the surveys to justify publication. Accordingly, the report on Public Attitudes to Liquor Licensing Laws in Great Britain appeared in 1974 and that on Shopping Habits has just been published. I understand that the delay in publication was caused by pressures of work in the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys and by industrial disputes affecting the printing industry. We would hope that the factual information contained in both reports would be of value to planning authorities and to others concerned with these matters.