HL Deb 05 April 1950 vol 166 cc819-20

2.43 p.m.

EARL HOWE

My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they can now relax the 5s. limit for hotels and catering establishments.]

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER (VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH)

My Lords, my right honourable friend the Minister of Food is now reviewing the Order under which the charge for meals in catering establishments is limited to 5s. and will make an announcement as soon as possible.

EARL HOWE

My Lords, while thanking the noble Viscount for his answer, may I ask whether it will be borne in mind that the present system of surcharges and the like is quite unintelligible to the average person in this country, let alone a foreigner; and whether it will also be borne in mind that we are to hold the Festival of Britain next year, and that all our hotels and catering establishments should be 100 per cent. satisfactory if we are to create the impression in the world that we desire to create? That being so, will the Minister of Food remember sympathetically the request that is put forward, that this Order should be done away with as having outlived its usefulness in present conditions?

VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH

My Lords, I can only say in reply to the noble Earl that I know that my right honourable friend has all the relevant matters fully under consideration. I have actually seen mentioned elsewhere, though not perhaps in precisely the same terms, the two points which are now mentioned by the noble Earl in your Lordships' House. I feel confident that my right honourable friend has this particular question, along with other relevant questions, under consideration.