§ Mr. Patonasked the President of the Board of Trade if he has taken steps to investigate how far the trade's undertaking to stabilise charges for men's hair-cutting is being satisfactorily observed; and what has been the result.
Mr. H. WilsonI am glad to say that the vast majority of the 40,000 men's hairdressers have followed the advice of the principal trade associations against increasing the charges which were being made in August last. There have, however, been some increases and I have considered whether I should make a statutory Order. I have decided not to do so at present, because the establishments which have raised their charges constitute only a very small proportion of the whole trade and I propose to see whether customers' resistance to higher charges, together with the influence of the trade associations, will suffice to prevent any widespread increase. Should there be signs of any general upward movement in these charges, I shall reconsider the question of making a statutory Order.