HC Deb 11 December 1945 vol 417 cc217-8
54. Lieut.-Colonel Mackeson

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to make it possible for traders, boarding house and hotel proprietors in defence areas to obtain adequate finance to reopen and re-equip their businesses.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Glenvit Hall)

I have been asked to reply. Loans free of interest are made by the Ministry of Health to local authorities in the coastal areas principally affected by the war to enable those authorities to lend sums up to £150 to persons who were in business in those areas before the war. In addition, the ordinary facilities provided by the banks to their customers and, where somewhat larger amounts are involved, by the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation are available in suitable cases.

Lieut.-Colonel Mackeson

Will the hon. Gentleman give sympathetic consideration to increasing the sum of £ 150, which is quite inadequate?

Mr. Hall

This matter has been debated, and one cannot answer a question like that across the Floor of the House during, Question Time.