§ 15. Mr. Gammansasked the President of the Board of Trade how many of the forms sent out in connection with the partial census of production of the mechanical engineering trade were wrongly bound so that many of the 45 pages appeared in the wrong order, some of them upside down; and what steps he proposes to take in future to ensure that manufacturing firms, coping with their many present difficulties, are not subject to similar inconvenience.
§ Sir S. CrippsIt is regretted that about twenty schedules for the mechanical engineering trade have, subsequent to issue, been found to be defective. This possibility could only be eliminated completely by the detailed examination of each schedule before issue, which would involve inordinate expense. The printers will be asked to see that such defective binding does not occur in future.
§ 20. Mr. Challenasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any calculation has been made as to the approximate number of clerical manhours which will be required to enable industrialists in this country to complete the census of production forms which have recently been distributed to them; and whether, in view of the economic emergency, this census can be postponed.
§ Sir. S. CrippsThe answer to both parts of the Question is in the negative.