§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister for Trade whether, in view of the wide discrepancy in the charges for the same type of funeral in various parts of the country by different firms where such charges cost between £259 and £497 and where cremation can cost between £300 to £1,000, he will cause an inquiry to be made to ascertain to what extent there should be agreed minimum charges throughout the country.
§ Dr. Vaughan:No. Funeral charges were the subject of a Price Commission inquiry in 1977. The commission found no evidence to suggest that the charges or profits of funeral directors were, in general, excessive. I have no reason to believe that the position has changed since then.
2Wpromotion of tourism, expressed as a figure of £ sterling per head of population, for the latest year for which figures are available, in each country;
(2) for each European Economic Community country, what is the level of increase or decrease in the availability of Government funds for the promotion of tourism, for each of the past five years, taking 1976 as 100 in each country.
§ Dr. Vaughan:Accurate direct comparisons are not practicable, since there is no common pattern of Government financial support for the promotion of tourism in the member States of the European Community. The following information should therefore be read in conjunction with the qualifying notes showing what expenditure has been taken into account in each case: