§ Mr. Toucheasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether 387W he is aware of the serious inconvenience caused to residents in the hamlet of Out-wood, Surrey, by being required to apply at Oxted for their ration books and identity cards as there is no omnibus service and the nearest station is three miles away and the train journey involves a change and a minimum cost of 2s.; and whether he will make some other arrangements?
§ Mr. MabaneI would refer the hon. Member to my general statement yesterday on this matter in reply to the hon. Members for the Isle of Wight (Captain P. Macdonald), New Forest and Christchurch (Colonel Mills), Gorbals (Mr. Buchanan) and Colchester (Mr. Lewis). I am advised that in order to eliminate inconvenience to residents in Outwood an arrangement has been made for a local resident to collect the documents on behalf of the others and I understand that this arrangement is working successfully.
§ Sir A. Knoxasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether his attention has been drawn to the inconvenience to residents in rural districts in being forced to attend at main food offices in order to draw their new ration books and identity cards, for instance, to obtain their cards for the three residents in one house in Gerrards Cross, whose names begin with different letters, three separate journeys to Slough will be necessary, a total distance of 45 miles; and whether he will arrange that a single householder be empowered to collect all the household's cards or that their cards be made obtainable at sub-food offices?
§ Mr. MabaneI would refer the hon. Member to my general statement yesterday on this matter in reply to the hon. Members for the Isle of Wight, New Forest and Christchurch, Gorbals and Colchester. Arrangements have been made both to enable the ration books of all the residents in any one house to be collected on a single occasion and for a sub-office to be opened at a later date for the distribution of ration books in the Gerrards Cross Area.