37. Mr. Vaneasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the regulations governing the use of the Priority Docket for curtain material prevent a housewife from using the docket except by making one purchase from one retailer; and whether he will amend the regulations in order to allow purchases on the authority of such a docket to be divided between more than one retailer or spread over an agreed period.
§ Mr. BelcherYes, Sir. The effect of the priority docket system is that purchases have to be made from a single retailer and normally in one purchase. Whilst I am not ready to alter the existing system, in cases of difficulty I hope that the retailer concerned will be prepared to arrange for a reasonable spread of purchases.
Mr. VaneDoes not the hon. Gentleman think this regulation unnecessarily restrictive, and cannot he arrange that a housewife is allowed to divide her purchase for say 11¼ yards of material between two retailers, if one retailer has not all the material she requires?
§ Mr. BelcherThe amount which can be obtained against the priority docket is 15 yards. I should have thought that, in normal circumstances, having regard to the small quantity involved, it would not be necessary to go from one retailer to another. It would mean considerable administrative change to alter the docket system, so that one part of the material could be taken from one retailer and another part from another.
Mrs. ManningIs my hon. Friend aware that this unnecessary regulation deprives the housewife of half the pleasure of making these new purchases, as well as making it very difficult for her to get the things she needs; and that it also makes 1183 it impossible for her to compare the quality of the material she needs by going from one shop to another?
§ Mr. BelcherI would not pretend to such a knowledge of these matters as my hon. Friend. Fifteen yards, after all, is a very small quantity. I should have thought that, having regard to the smallness of the quantity, it would have been possible to purchase it all in one shop. There is no regulation. The point is that there is a single docket. If we were to make it possible for a woman to go from one shop to another, we should have to alter the docket, and that would mean issuing two or three certificates and two or three dockets instead of one.
§ Mr. McGovernWhy should it not be possible for a woman to go to two or three shops?
§ Mr. BelcherThere is nothing to stop her doing so, if the retailer to whom she goes in the first place is prepared to give a certificate that he has supplied, say, five yards of the 15, leaving the rest to be supplied by another retailer.