§ Mr. Michael Spicerasked the Secretary of State for Industry what action he proposes to take on the proposal of the recent conference on the United Kingdom statistical system that an authoritative national body should be established to oversee general statistical policy, development and integration.
§ Mr. Les Huckfield:I assume that the hon. Member is referring to a proposal contained in one of the papers discussed at the recent annual statistics users' conference. We are considering ways of improving our arrangements for consulting providers and users of official statistics, and the views expressed at the conference will be borne in mind.