§ Mr. Edgeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Numismatic Bureau of the Royal Mint opened account number 414 2225 with the National Giro; in how many advertisements by the Numismatic Bureau this account number has appeared; and what other steps have been taken by the Numismatic Bureau to tell customers that payments to the Bureau may be made into that account.
§ Mr. Denzil Davies, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 29 March 1979; Vol. 965, c. 233], gave the following answer:
The Numismatic Bureau of the Royal Mint opened account No. 414 2225 with the National Giro in November, 1974. This account number has not appeared in any national newspaper advertisements.
450WThe latest brochures sent to the Royal Mint's mail order customers for the 1978 and 1979 United Kingdom proof sets provided for transfer payment through the National Giro system.
§ Mr. Edgeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated cost to the Royal Mint of handling an order received by its Numismatic Bureau by each of the following methods, (a) an order written on the reverse of a cash inpayment or transfer form credited direct to the Royal Mint's account with the National Giro, (b) an order form incorporating an authority from the customer to charge the purchase to his Access or Barclaycard accounts, (c) an order form accompanied by a crossed cheque or postal order, after taking into account staff costs, bank charges, credit card company charges and any benefit gained from the differing periods of time which elapse before a cleared balance is obtained.
§ Mr. Denzil Davies, pursuant to his reply, [Official Report, 29 March 1979; Vol. 965, c. 352], gave the following answer:
It would be undesirable, for commercial reasons, to publish details of these costs.
§ Mr. Tim Rentonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the increase in the United Kingdom's gross national product at January of the current year, expressed as a percentage increase in real terms over January 1974.
§ Mr. Denzil Davies,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 30 March 1979], gave the following answer:
Monthly figures for the gross national product are not available. Between the fourth quarter of 1973 and the fourth quarter of 1978 the United Kingdom's gross national product at constant factor cost increased by 4.2 per cent.