§ Mr. Onslowasked the Secretary of State for Trade what action he has taken to ensure that his Department's mail order trading statistics are more reliable in future.
§ Mr. MeacherReplies received to the monthly retail sales inquiry have always been subject to a number of credibility checks in order to ensure reliability as far as possible. Additional checks for large contributions have now been instituted which will more readily identify the particular type of reporting errors which occurred with respect to mail order firms in 1977. It is, however, never possible to be completely certain of discovering all reporting errors made by contributors.