§ 12. Mr. Price-Whiteasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated cost of printing the new half-clothing coupons in connection with clothing rationing; and why this cost was not saved by the existing brown and lilac single coupons in current ration books being converted into half-coupon values instead of converting existing brown coupons into single values.
§ Mr. BelcherI assume that the hon. Member refers to the decision to print quarter coupon vouchers to provide retailers with small change; the cost is expected to be about £500. The hon. Member's suggestion would not have dealt with the situation so satisfactorily, since quarters were needed as well as halves and since unnecessary confusion would have been caused to retailers if the value of the individual coupon had been reduced.