§ 70. Mr. Dribergasked the President of the Board of Trade what evidence was obtained by his Department's consumer needs service in support of the opinion that supplies of inexpensive pottery to the shops of Braintree, Essex, during the past six months were relatively greater than supplies to other districts; what inquiries were made locally; and what check is made from time to time by his Department on the manufacturers' claim that supplies are distributed fairly to small towns and villages remote from the places of manufacture.
§ Mr. BottomleyRecords of six months' pottery deliveries to the Braintree shops abstracted from retailers' invoices and related to the local shopping population, as shown by food registration records, were compared with a national standard derived from a series of similar investigations in all parts of the country and adjusted from time to time to take account of changes in the current level of output. The Board's regional distribution officers keep a constant watch on supplies in the shops. Assessments of the kind described are made where local under-supply of crockery is suspected, and, where it is proved, there is a long-standing voluntary arrangement whereby the potters make up local deliveries to the standard level.