§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, pursuant to the Chief Secretary's reply to the hon. Member for Melton on 8th June (Official Report, column 664), he will explain why it would be disproportionately expensive to give the number of cases where contractors had refused to vary existing contracts under paragraph 11 of DOE Circular 123/75, in view of the Chief Secretary's statement that the proportion involved of such cases was small.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettIt was clear from the broad information we had that the incidence of refusals was small. But since numbers were not recorded centrally, examination of papers relating to all existing contracts, estimated at over 10,000 in number, would have been necessary to give a precise figure.