§ Mr. Whitakerasked the Minister of Technology whether he will publish a White Paper containing the proposals for changing all United Kingdom weights and measures to the metric system.
§ Mr. BennAs I indicated to my hon. Friend in a Written Answer on 5th December, 1966 it is expected that industry will adopt metric units sector by sector. In time that system will become the primary system of weights and measures for the country as a whole. It will be a cumulative process extending over some eight to ten years and it is expected that imperial units will continue to be in diminishing use for a number of years thereafter. My hon. Friend will have seen the programme for change to the metric system announced on the 21st February by the construction industry. The first consultations leading to the preparation of similar programmes, with inevitable varying time-scales, have begun and a wide section of the engineering industry will receive in the next few weeks a questionnaire on which these sector programmes can be based. So far as the retail sector is concerned no decisions to make the change have yet been taken.—[Vol. 737, c.237–8.]