§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will now give a complete estimate of all the costs involved in the preliminary legal investigations leading up to the inquiry and subsequent trial in the Bloom trial; whether he will give the costs of the police inquiries and the Finer Committee of Inquiry; and when the Report will be published.
§ Mr. John DaviesThe total prosecution costs of the committal proceedings and trials of Mr. Bloom and those charged with him amounted to £68,360. It is not possible without an undue expenditure of time to give even a rough estimate of the costs of the police inquiries. The expenses of and incidental to the investigation of the affairs of Rolls Razor Ltd by inspectors appointed by the Board of Trade were £66,230.
I have decided not to publish the report of the inspectors. In my view, the considerations in favour of publication are outweighed by the consideration that it would be improper to publish a report containing reflections upon individuals, after the conclusion of criminal proceedings in which criminal allegations against some of those individuals have not been proved or have been withdrawn.