Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Fuel and Power the number of permits for using petrol for the maintenance of the fairways and the lawn-mowers that have been granted to the golf clubs throughout England and Wales for the period 1st January, 1943 to 1st June, 1943; and whether he will consider discontinuing the allowance for petrol for this purpose and encourage the use of hand-mowers for such portions of the golf courses that it is deemed necessary to keep up?
Major Lloyd GeorgeI fear I cannot give the information asked in the first part of the Question, since no separate record is kept of allowances granted to golf clubs. As to the second part, I have discontinued allowances for the mowing of lawns in private gardens; but I do not believe it would help the war effort to stop the very small allowances which enable clubs and public bodies to provide healthy recreation for substantial numbers of people, whether at golf or at any other game played on grass. In view of the shortage of labour, hand-mowing of such grounds is not practicable.