§ Mr. Farrasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) what is the purpose of form PA 922, distributed by the Business Statistics Office; and what is the number of employees of any company making the return below which exemption may be obtained;
(2) if the completion by small companies of form PA 922 submitted by the Business Statistics Office is compulsory; and what are the penalties involved if the firm is unable to comply due to the full-time occupation of staff in sales promotion.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldForm PA 922 is used in the census of production which, under the provisions of Section 2 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947, my Department is required to carry out each year. The results of the census, which include measures of the output, investment and wages and salaries of individual industries, are needed by both Government 63W and industry for the study of industrial structure and as a basis for judgments on industrial development; they are also needed to meet mandatory statistical requirements of the European Economic Communities. All firms with 20 or more employees are required by law to complete the census form, but all smaller firms, except for a small sample in the construction industry, are exempted from this obligation.
Section 4(1) of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 provides that any person failing to furnish returns may be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50 or a fine not exceeding £200 for a second or subsequent offence.