HC Deb 15 July 1948 vol 453 cc1386-9
22. Sir Wavell Wakefield

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the basis of distribution of the posters and plaques issued under the British Tourist and Holidays Board hygiene scheme, issued in co-operation with the Ministries of Health and Food and the Department of Health for Scotland.

The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Harold Wilson)

The British Tourist and Holidays Board inform me that the posters and plaques issued under the hygiene scheme have been distributed to all registered catering establishments, except institutions, in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Sir W. Wakefield

Does not the President of the Board of Trade think it is gross extravagance that a number of large posters and plaques should be issued to a small business or lodging house of perhaps only four or five people in the same way as to a business of 100 or more and will he look into this very great extravagance which is now taking place?

Mr. Wilson

I am looking into the further development of this campaign but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the British Tourist and Holidays Board do consider the views of the industry, which is represented on the Board, and that this scheme has had the widest support in the trade Press and in the trade generally.

Mr. A. R. W. Low

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is an awful waste, quite apart from the other considerations, in distributing to small boarding houses run by a family alone, or sometimes with only a few other employees, this enormous number of posters, which must be not only a waste, but an insult?

Mr. Gerald Williams

Apart from the extravagance, surely the insult to the public in asking them to "Wash Now" is very great, and would it not be much better to teach people these private matters in the elementary schools?

Dr. Stephen Taylor

Is it not a fact that one individual employee's failing to wash his hands may, in fact, cause an epidemic of enteric?

Mr. Keeling

Can the President of the Board of Trade reconcile the running tap which appears in this propaganda with the campaign of the water authorities against the running tap?

23. Sir W. Wakefield

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many posters of the British Tourist and Holidays Board hygiene scheme series issued in co-operation with the Ministries of Health and Food and the Department of Health for Scotland are being produced; the tonnage of paper required; the cost of the scheme; and will he state the amount of metal, tin and/or aluminium alloy used for the plaques in the same scheme together with the number of plaques and the cost.

38. Mr. A. R. W. Low

asked the President of the Board of Trade the cost of the Tourist and Holidays Board's "Wash your Hands" campaign; and how much tin, aluminium and paper have been or will be consumed in this campaign.

63. Mr. Gerald Williams

asked the President of the Board of Trade how much tin has been used in processing the recently issued advertisement "Wash Now."

Mr. H. Wilson

The British Tourist and Holidays Board inform me that they have produced 1 million posters, using 14 tons of paper, at a cost of £3,853, and 400,000 large and 75,000 small plaques, using approximately 56 tons of aluminium, and costing £31,150. No tin has been used. Whether or not more paper and aluminium will be used in connection with the campaign will depend on whether it is decided to extend it.

Sir W. Wakefield

Does not the President of the Board of Trade think that some of this paper could be much more advantageously used for newsprint, which is so urgently needed at present?

Mr. Wilson

The hon. Gentleman should be well aware that the kinds of paper used for posters and newsprint are not interchangeable.

Mr. Low

Now that the right hon. Gentleman has found out how much paper and aluminium, both of which are in short supply in this country, have been wasted in this way, will he not do something to stop the furtherance of this campaign?

Mr. Wilson

I have already said that I am in consultation with the British Tourist and Holidays Board about this matter and that the trade, as represented on the Board, felt that this was a most useful campaign.

Mr. Erroll

Would it not have been better to have started this campaign in a small way and ascertained whether it would be successful before launching it in such a big way?

Mr. De la Bère

That would have been common sense.