§ Mr. Hastingsasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will list the exact purposes of Form JA550, Census of Production 1977—Construction Industry, and why it is necessary to make requests to firms for this information so frequently.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldSection 2 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 requires that a census of production shall be held every year. The information sought in the inquiries also meets the requirements of Directive 1972/221 of the European Economic Communities. The censuses provide statistics describing the structure of industry, including measures of the construction industry's contribution to the national product and of its investment. All firms with 20 or more employees, but only a sample of smaller firms, in the construction industry are required to complete the construction census questionnaires; the sample of smaller firms changes from year to year.