§ Mr. Nallyasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the Hairdressers' Trade Association decision to maintain the high prices now being charged to the public by enforcing observance of inflated minimum price levels throughout the trade; that such attempted enforcement includes arrangements to prevent hairdressers who provide cheaper service from obtaining supplies of hairdressers' essential sundries; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that such supplies will not be withheld from hairdressers who prefer to remain outside this price ring arrangement.
§ Mr. BelcherI am aware that the Hairdressers' Trade Association are instituting a minimum price arrangement and propose to enforce it by the withholding of supplies372W of goods from those who charge less than the minimum. I have at present no power to prohibit such arrangements but there is a provision in the Goods and Services (Price Control) Act, 1941, under which it is an offence to refuse to supply price-regulated goods, amongst which are many hairdressers' sundries, which are in stock, unless, inter alia, the supply of such goods would "involve a breach of some obligation lawfully binding "on the suppliers. It would be a question for the courts whether in any particular case an offence had been committed under this Section in connection with the minimum price arrangement of the Hairdressers' Trade Association.