§ 84. Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Minister of Technology (1) whether it will be the responsibility of the proposed commission on units and standards of measurement to submit proposals to him for new legislation and a new Weights and Measures Act for bringing in metric units and standards;
(2) when he will set up a commission on units and standards of measurement as outlined in Sections 7 and 8 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1963.
103W
Mr. Alan WilliamsAs my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-East (Mr. Dobson) was told in my right hon. Friend's reply on 24th July, 1969, the Government have decided that the composition and terms of reference of the Commission contemplated under the 1963 Act would not permit either sufficiently wide consultation of all the relevant interests, or fully comprehensive consideration of all the current issues concerning metric units, which now need to be urgently resolved to facilitate metrication. My right hon. Friend has therefore appointed a more broadly-based Committee with wider terms of reference to advise him on the legislation required to provide for the definition of metric units and related matters concerning standards. This Committee which will be known as the Advisory Committee on Legal Units of Measurement will also advise him on the need for a standing advisory body on units and standards of measurement in the place of the Commission envisaged in the 1963 Act.—[Vol. 787, c.486–7.]