HC Deb 13 April 1978 vol 947 cc482-3W
Mr. David Hunt

asked the Secretary of State for Industry how many departmental surveys, questionnaires or similar investigations his Department has in hand; how many civil servants are involved in collecting and processing the statistics; what is their estimated annual cost; and if he will list the statistical inquiries in the Official Report.

Mr. Les Huckfield,

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 12th April 1978], gave the following information:

The Departments of Industry, Trade and Prices and Consumer Protection, which share a common statistical service, have in hand 33 statistical inquiries which are listed in the table below. This involved sending out 740,000 forms in 1977 compared with 950,000 in 1973, the last full year of the Conservative Administration.

STATISTICAL INQUIRIES BY THE DEPARTMENTS OF INDUSTRY, TRADE AND PRICES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
Subject Frequency Type*
Industries' sales … … … … … … … Quarterly … … … S
Census of production (manufacturing) … … … Annual … … … S
Census of production (construction) … … … … Annual … … … S
Mines and quarries … … … … … … Annual … … … S
Wholesaling and dealing … … … … … Annual … … … S
Motor trades … … … … … … … Annual … … … S
Retail distribution … … … … … … Annual … … … S
Property owning … … … … … … Annual … … … S
Catering … … … … … … … … Annual … … … S
Transport, entertainment and miscellaneous services … Annual … … … S
Film distribution … … … … … … Annual … … … S
Film exhibitors … … … … … … … Annual … … … S
Building Materials … … … … … … Quarterly and monthly … S
Miscellaneous production and order statistics … … Various … … … V/S
Electricity generated by large users … … … … Quarterly … … … V
Purchases of fuel by large users … … … … Quarterly … … … V
Fuel stocks/consumption of large users … … … Monthly or quarterly … S
Capital expenditure … … … … … … Quarterly … … … V
Investment intentions … … … … … … Four-monthly … V
Stocks … … … … … … … … Monthly or quarterly … V
Export prospects … … … … … … Quarterly … … … V
Wholesale prices … … … … … … Monthly or quarterly … V
Overseas transactions … … … … … … Annual and quarterly … V
Company liquidity … … … … … … Quarterly … … … V
Insurance companies and private pension funds … … Annual and quarterly … V
Retail sales, stocks, HP, TV rental and relay … … Monthly … … … V
Finance houses and check trading … … … … Quarterly and monthly … V
Catering turnover … … … … … … Quarterly … … … V
Motor trades turnover … … … … … … Quarterly … … … V
Computer services … … … … … … Quarterly … … … V
United Kingdom sea passenger movements inquiry … When ship docks … … S†
Food price survey … … … … … … Weekly … … … V
Register proving forms … … … … … One off … … … V
* S denotes a statutory inquiry (generally collected for Great Britain under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 and for Northern Ireland under the Statistics of Trade (Northern Ireland) Act of 1949) V denotes a voluntary inquiry.
† Collected under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1906.