§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he is satisfied with progress in metrication among the small firms in the engineering industry; and if he is taking any action to speed it up.
§ Mr. John FraserThe metric change in the engineering industry as a whole is bound to be a gradual process. Imperial production, particularly for spares and 159W repairs—an area in which smaller firms are particularly important—is likely to continue on a diminishing scale for many years. The rate of metric progress is primarily a matter for the industry itself, though it is estimated that about half the total production of small firms by value is metric or has metric interfaces. Each firm makes its own decision on the timing of the change in the light of its own circumstances. However, it is Government policy to encourage the change in engineering as part of the general transition to metric in the economy as a whole.
The Metrication Board works closely with organisations representing the industry and is currently discussing with the CBI what further efforts they can jointly make to assist the process of change. Small firms considering the metric change would be well advised to ask the Metrication Board for its free booklet "Going Metric in the Small Firm: A Practical Guide for Management." Last March I appointed to the Metrication Board Mr. T. R. S. Lyon, Chairman of the CBI's Smaller Firms Council. I therefore have a means of maintaining direct contact with this important sector.