§ Mr. John Garrettasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection when she will be able to announce the results of her Department's examination of the retail margins of the British Shoe Corporation.
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§ Mr. MaclennanAs part of his general responsibilities for monopoly questions, the Director General of Fair Trading is reviewing the market for footwear among others with a view to deciding whether a reference to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission would be feasible and appropriate. The British Shoe Corporation is among the firms required, for price control purposes, to make quarterly reports to the Price Commission on its net and gross margins. The Price Code requires retailers to limit their margins so as not to exceed reference levels which are determined by the margins they earned in the period before the control came into effect. If a firm's margins exceed its reference level the Price Commission has power to require it to reduce prices to the extent necessary to offset the excess.