§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer why no figures for import penetration overall and by industry have been published in the "Monthly Digest" since June 1989; and if he will publish a provisional estimate of the figures for December 1989 and December 1990.
§ Mr. MaplesImport penetration figures published in the latest "Monthly Digest of Statistics", September 1991, table 15.10, are the most up to date available. As a result of recommendations in the 1989 review of Department of Trade and Industry statistics, which considered the arrangements for collection of economic statistics by DTI and the burdens placed on businesses, quarterly sales data for most manufacturing industries, which are used in the calculation of this ratio, are no longer collected. Data for208W 1989 and 1990 are therefore not available. A footnote was added to the table earlier this year, to inform readers of the reason for the absence of new data.