§ Sir C. Osborneasked the President of the Board of Trade what is his criterion for the optimum number of companies for each industry in the light of his policy on amalgamation; what steps he now proposes to take to secure the minimum of competition to ensure efficiency, and how soon he expects to complete his scheme of monopoly control.
§ Mr. DellQuestions of the desirable structure of individual industries and the degree of concentration in them are best tackled not by applying a single general criterion but by looking carefully at the particular circumstances of each case. This is the approach which underlies the legislation on monopolies and mergers and effective use of this legislation can make a significant contribution towards achieving a sound balance in industrial structure.