HC Deb 01 March 1945 vol 408 cc1538-9
17. Mr. Glenvil Hall

asked the Minister of Health if he is aware that some local authorities have sustained a loss on their British Restaurants which, unless assistance is provided by the Government, will have to be borne on the local rate; and if he will state the enactment permitting a local authority to levy the electors for this type of trading.

Mr. Willink

Yes, Sir. The authority for charging any deficiency upon the local authority's funds, to the extent that it is not made good from1 national funds, is Regulation 54B of the Defence (General) Regulations, 1939.

Mr. Hall

May I ask the right hon. and learned Gentleman if he thinks that in all cases the amount is sufficient, and whether local authorities are fully seized of what he now says?

Mr. Willink

I should have thought so.

Mr. Evelyn Walkden

If the Ministry of Food steps in, and says that a British Restaurant is losing money and the local authority has to close it down, and people suffer as a result because of the failure to supply necessary meals, can the right hon. and learned Gentleman intervene, and see that the Ministry of Food does-not get its own way?

Mr. Willink

The question of these British Restaurants, apart from the particular point put by the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Mr. Glenvil Hall) is, of course, a question for my right hon. and gallant Friend the Minister of Food.

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