LORD SEMPILLhad the following Notice on the Paper: To ask His Majesty's Government why non-priority air travellers to France by the only air line as yet available have the price of their tickets deducted from the sum allowed by the Bank of England for expenses abroad, whereas such deductions are not made in the case of those travelling by surface transport. To suggest that, since it is the declared policy of His Majesty's Government to encourage air transport, such a disadvantage to non-priority air travellers be removed. The noble Lord said: My Lords, I beg leave to ask the question that stands in my name.
LORD PAKENHAMMy Lords, Lord Sempill's statement of the position is not quite accurate. I am afraid that what I have to say is all rather complicated, but the noble Lord will follow me, and if any noble Lord fails to do so no doubt he will interrupt me. The normal rule is at present that non-priority travellers, that is to say, those travelling not in the national interest but for personal reasons, are allowed £100 of foreign exchange for any destination outside the sterling area in the course of twelve months, which can be spent as they please, and in issuing this exchange the banks deduct the foreign exchange equivalent of any sterling spent here on travel by foreign means of transport. If British means of transport are available, of course no deduction falls to be made. The noble Lord is perhaps aware of that. In the case of travel to Paris, however, a small exception has been made for administrative convenience. Only British surface transport is at present available to the French ports from this country, and foreign surface transport is only involved for the relatively short rail journey from that point. To ease the burden on the railway staffs and banks in this country for this low-priced and frequent journey, it was decided to ignore the French rail fare—the noble Lord, no doubt, has that in mind—which in any case is less than £5 return, and a corresponding concession 961 also applies to journeys to Brussels and Amsterdam.
Air transport is in a rather different position because the journey is either made throughout by a British machine, in which case no question of allotting foreign exchange arises, or is made throughout by a foreign machine at an exchange cost of approximately £12 return (to Paris). In practice, non-priority travellers can obtain passages on the British machines within a reasonable time. I think that the noble Lord will appreciate from this description of the present position, that the difference in treatment does not represent any policy of discrimination against air transport, but is merely a consequence of a decision to simplify administration by ignoring a very small sum. His Majesty's Government are, however, examining the situation, and will take note of the points which the noble Lord has kindly brought to their attention.
LORD SEMPILLMay I ask if non-priority passengers will shortly be able to travel by the British service? The position at the present moment is that only the French service is available to them.
LORD PAKENHAMMy information is that which I have already given to the noble Lord. Non-priority travellers can obtain passages on the British machines within a reasonable time. I leave it to the noble Lord to construe the expression "a reasonable time" as I feel sure he is fully capable of doing. As I have already informed him, the position is being examined.
LORD SEMPILLMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply, and in view of his statement that the position is being examined, I will leave it at that.