§ Lord Northfieldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What actions they are taking on the suggestion made in a recent debate by Lord Trefgarne on behalf of the Government that one way of forcing an increase in competition in the supply of spectacles might be to alter the law so as to allow people other than trained opticians to dispense spectacles on production of a prescription.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Lord Glenarthur)My noble friend's hypothesis on 27th April of freeing of optical dispensing while retaining statutory control of sight-testing was designed to illustrate the contentious nature of the recommendations of the Office of Fair Trading Report which are being given serious study by Ministers. We hope to be in a position to reach our conclusions on these issues shortly.