asked the President of the Board of Trade what were the amounts of hire purchase and credit sales effected separately by the gas and electricity authorities in each of the years 1959 and 1960, and to the latest convenient date in 1961.

Sales on hire purchase and similar terms by the gas and electricity authorities are published only for financial years; the figures are given in the Reports of the Electricity Council, the Gas Council, the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board, which are documents presented to the House.