§ 114. Mr. Watkinsasked the President of the Board of Trade how many new shops have been opened in England, Scotland and Wales, respectively, in the first year since the war ended; and how many are fruit shops.
§ Sir S. CrippsDuring the six months ended 31st December 1945, the following numbers of licences were granted under the Location of Retail Businesses Order: England, 15,989; Scotland, 1,808; Wales, 776. These figures include 6,993 licences granted in respect of the acquisition of goodwill of existing businesses and 1,746 transfer licences. Since that date, it had not been necessary to obtain a licence to open a non-food retail shop, and no further statistics are available. Food shops, including fruit shops, are the concern of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Food, and are not included in the above figures.