§ 75. Mr. Nallyasked the President of the Board of Trade what reply he intends to give to the application for a paper licence from an organisation known as National Football Pools; and if he will state the procedure adopted by his Department in dealing with this and other applications for paper licences made by the proprietors of newly-established football pool firms.
§ Mr. BelcherNo application for a licence for paper has been received from National Football Pools. It is, however, our practice to licence paper for pools only to firms which were operating before the war, and on the basis of their prewar consumption.
§ Mr. NallyIn view of the fact that, to meet the requirements of the proposed new venture mentioned in the first part of the Question, a staff of at least 1,000 would be needed, will my hon. Friend give a specific assurance that under no circumstances will any help be given to new firms in the industry to further waste man and woman power, and will he do his best to restrict the operations and expansion of the older pool firms?
§ Mr. BelcherThat is going rather beyond the terms of the original Question. My answer indicates that if an application for paper is received from a new organisation, according to our present practice they will not be eligible to receive it.
§ 76. Mr. Nallyasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give an undertaking that his Department will not issue any further licences to manufacturers of desks and other office equipment for production to meet the needs of football pools organisations.
§ Mr. BelcherNo, Sir.