§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will state the percentage of cases in which the Restrictive Practices Court has found for the defendant company and the number of instances in which successful prosecutions led to contempt proceedings owing to subsequent breaches of the terms of the Act, and of the court's judgment.
§ Mr. ButcherThe Restrictive Practices Court has held in favour of the defendants in 1.5 per cent. of the cases which have come before it.
20WProceedings for contempt of court have been initiated on nine occasions, and were successful in seven cases.
§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases relating to restrictive trade practices were brought by the Office of Fair Trading to the Restrictive Practices Court in the years 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985; how many trade agreements are now registered with the Office of Fair Trading under the terms of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976; and if he will indicate the number of unresolved cases still before the court.
§ Mr. ButcherThe number of cases referred to the Restrictive Practices Court were as follows:
Number 1982 nil 1983 4 1984 3 1985 188 At the end of 1985, 5,495 agreements were registered on the Register of Restrictive Trading Agreements.
202 unresolved cases were before the court at the end of 1985.