§ 64. Mr. Wilkinsasked the Minister of Food whether supplies of frying oils and fats have improved sufficiently to enable him to increase the present ration to fish caterers in the near future and particularly to ex-Servicemen who have been granted licences to commence this type of business but who are finding it difficult to make a living on the present allocation for such new licences.
§ Sir B. SmithThere is no prospect of an early increase in the quantities of oils and fats allocated to fish friers. Any ex-Serviceman who has been granted a licence to open a new business receives an allocation of fat which, I am advised, is sufficient to ensure a reasonable living.
§ Mr. WilkinsIs the Minister aware that the allocation permitted to ex-Servicemen having a licence justifies them in opening only on two nights per week, when they may be surrounded with fish caterers who are open for four or five days a week?
§ Sir B. SmithAn ex-Serviceman, being granted a licence to open a new business, gets 56 lbs. of fat per week. I am assured that that is sufficient for an annual turnover of £1,000.
§ Mr. JenningsAn annual turnover of £1,000? How on earth can a man make a living on a gross turnover of £1,000 a year?