§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade what is the cost of sending out form PQ 399.12 (Miscellaneous Metal Goods annually; what estimate he has made of the accuracy with which it is filled in; and what use is made of the information received.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldI have been asked to reply.
The total annual cost is about £57,000, with £15,000 of this directly attributable 667W to the sending out of forms. The credibility of the figures provided by individual respondents is examined at the time of receipt using both manual and computer checks. The very substantial sales of establishments covered by this inquiry—about £1,000 million in 1976—are used in compiling the Indices of Industrial Production for the United Kingdom, Scotland and for Wales. The figures of sales for each of the 50 or so products published in the relevant Business Monitor are used by Government Departments, market analysts and by members of the numerous manufacturing trade associations involved.