§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list the number of price fixing agreements currently on the Restrictive Practices Register; the industries involved, and the percentage that have been referred to the restrictive practices court.
§ Mrs. Sally OppenheimThis is a matter for the Director General of Fair Trading who is responsible for maintaining the register of restrictive trading agreements. He informs me that a total of 4,430 agreements had been placed on the register at 30 June 1981. Many of the agreements contain price restrictions and relate to a wide variety of industries. The exact numbers could be established only at disproportionate cost. A total of 663 agreements (15 per cent.) have been referred to the Restrictive Practices Court under section 1 of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976. The number ended by virtue of a court order or by action of the parties is168W 3,322 (75 per cent.). Other agreements have been subject to discretionary treatment by the Secretary of State or are still under consideration.