§ Mr. Profumoasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is satisfied that the information obtained from the Census of Production is accurate; and whether he can now indicate the methods by which he intends to simplify the system of obtaining and collating this information.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftI am satisfied that the Census of Production reports are substantially accurate. The figures returned are scrutinised and checked at various stages of compilation, but the results or estimates obtained from statistical inquiries of this kind are inevitably subject to some degree of error. The sample census of production for 1952 is described on page 1326 of the Board of Trade Journal for 29th December, 1951.