HC Deb 29 March 1960 vol 620 cc115-6W
Mr. Gresham Cooke

asked the President of the Board of Trade who will be the members forming the Committee of Inquiry into Resale Price Maintenance; and what are their qualifications.

Mr. Maudling

The inquiry will be conducted by those officials within the Board of Trade who are most concerned with this subject.

Mr. Gresham Cooke

asked the President of the Board of Trade in what way the new inquiry into resale price maintenance will differ from the inquiries already made during recent years, such as those of the Lloyd Jacob Committee and the Monopolies Commission; and whether the report of the new inquiry will be made public before any action is decided upon.

Mr. Maudling

Previous inquiries have been to a large extent concerned with the arguments for and against resale price maintenance, but the present inquiry is, as I indicated to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. W. Clark) on 17th March, intended to elicit the facts, particularly in relation to the extent and effects of individual resale price maintenance as at present practised. The inquiry will be confidential.