HC Deb 22 March 1973 vol 853 cc186-7W
Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to what extent the increased demand for, and consequent increased price of, oil was taken into account by the Roskill Commission in its estimates of air traffic growth.

Mr. Onslow

As no marked increase in oil prices was anticipated at the time of the Roskill Commission no special account was taken of this factor in preparing traffic forecasts.

Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the extent to which the anticipated oil shortage will affect the price of aviation kerosene by 1980; and what effect this is likely to have on air traffic movements, in the way of increased fuel costs for civil airlines.

Mr. Onslow

We do not anticipate any oil shortage by 1980 and have not made any estimate of how aviation kerosene prices might move by then. Fuel costs form only a small part of total airline costs and are unlikely to have any significant effect on air traffic movements.

MERGERS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE MONOPOLIES AND MERGERS ACT 1965
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
No. Assets No. Assets No. Assets No. Assets No. Assets
(£m.) (£m.) (£m.) (£m.) (£m.)
Mergers of companies in the same industrial classification 99 * 89 * 57 * 80 891 73 1,415
Mergers of companies in different industrial classifications 20 * 12 * 10 * 27 427 39 2,127
TOTAL 119 1,992 101 2,062 67 1,335 107 1,318 112 3,542
* Not available.

Mr. Millan

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if, for mergers falling within the scope of the Monopolies and Mergers Act 1965 over each of the years 1968 to 1972, he will give a breakdown according to the value of the assets taken over in the categories of up

NUMBERS OF MERGERS CONSIDERED BY THE MERGERS PANEL 1971 AND 1972
By value of assets taken over
£m.
Less than 2.5 2.5–4.9 5.0-9.9 10.0–19.9 20.0–49.9 50.0–99.9 100.0+
1971 … … 13 3 38 24 11 1 3
1972 … … 6 2 34 20 19 9 6

In addition, there were 14 cases in 1971 and 16 cases in 1972 where the assets of the firm taken over were not precisely known although almost all the firms concerned would have had assets which did not exceed £5 million.