§ Captain Gunterasked the Minister of Food if he is aware that a female temporary clerk employed in the Rochford Food Office has been refused permission by his divisional officer to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming district council elections in the Rayleigh Urban District Council area; and will he take steps to give such permission immediately.
§ Sir B. SmithUnder the present rule, which has been in force for some years,172W members of the divisional and local food office staff are not permitted to stand as candidates for election to local authorities, and the divisional food officer was accordingly obliged to refuse permission to the officer referred to in my hon. and gallant Friend's Question. I have, however, recently had the rule under consideration and after consultation with the staff associations concerned I have now decided that the rule which applies to other parts of the Ministry shall apply also to officers of the divisional and local food offices. The effect is that permission to stand as a candidate will not normally be refused, and permission will be granted at once to the officer referred to by my hon. and gallant Friend.