§ 41. Mr. Bowdenasked the Minister of Transport if he is aware that in allocating priority sea passages the Sea Passage Priority Board are, in some cases, granting 602 a priority passage to the wife and not to the husband; that many of these applications for priority passages are on health and compassionate grounds, and that it is quite unfair to divide up families in this way; and if he will instruct the Board to consider applications from a family as a whole.
§ Mr. BarnesApplications for passages on health and compassionate grounds are considered from families as a whole as well as from individuals. Owing to the shortage of accommodation, only the strongest cases qualify for priority for the whole family on these grounds Where it is impossible to offer berths to the whole family, either the husband or wife is given a passage. If my hon. Friend will let me know of any case where the granting of priority to a part of a family has caused undue hardship, I shall be happy to reconsider it.