§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the number of negotiations he has conducted under the terms of the voluntary price regulation scheme since its inception, together with the length of time taken by each before agreement was concluded.
§ Mr. AlisonIt is not possible to produce figures for the three schemes which ran from 1957 to 1969 without a disproportionate amount of work. The Department has initiated negotiations to explore whether price reductions were called for on 48 occasions under the current scheme which came into operation in November 1969. Of these:
- Five cases are at present under negotiation;
- 11 were completed within four months of the receipt of the returns;
- 16 were completed in more than four but less than eight months;
- 12 were completed in more than eight but less than twelve months; and
- four were completed in more than twelve months.