HC Deb 09 June 1942 vol 380 c935W
Mr. Henderson Stewart

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare whether any European country has put into operation a scheme for rationing domestic gas and electricity; whether any such scheme has been formulated in Vichy France; and what happened to it?

Mr. Foot

Schemes designed to ration or compulsorily to reduce the domestic consumption of gas are now in force in Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Greece, Finland, the Baltic States, Denmark and France. Similar schemes for electricity are in force in Holland, Norway, Denmark and France. Italy and Switzerland do not normally ration electricity, but emergency schemes were introduced for a time during the winter, when there was a shortage of water power. As regards the second and third parts of the Question, gas and electricity have been rationed throughout the whole of metropolitan France since 1st September, 1941.