§ Mr. Woodallasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he intends in the future to make use of those sections of the Industry Act 1975 requiring disclosure of information by companies.
§ Mr. CryerUse of the powers in Part IV of the Industry Act 1975 will be made as appropriate, but I remind my hon. Friend that when the powers were before the House it was emphasised that they were intended to be held in reserve and that it was hoped that they would have to be used only in a very few cases. This position is unchanged. However, "held in reserve" does not mean that the powers should be ignored, and the Government have every intention of using the powers where appropriate.
§ Mr. Woodallasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the companies that have been required to disclose information under Sections 30, 31 and 33 of the Industry Act 1975.
§ Mr. CryerNo companies have been required to disclose information under Sections 30, 31 and 32 of the Industry Act 1975. Section 33, to which my hon. Friend refers, is concerned only with the treatment of information obtained under these sections.
§ Mr. Woodallasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the occasions on which he has served a preliminary notice under Section 28 (1) of the Industry Act 1975 and the occasions on which he has made an order under Section 28(4) of the Industry Act 1975, respectively.
§ Mr. Woodallasked the Secretary of State for Industry on how many occasions 323W trade unions have asked him to make use of the Industry Act 1975 to secure the disclosure of information by companies.
§ Mr. CryerI refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr. Nelson) on 27th February 1978—[Vol. 945, c. 9].