§ Mrs. Ganleyasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the supply on the home market of vacuum flasks.
§ Mr. BelcherYes, Sir. During the next three or four months there will, I fear, be a severe fall in the production of these flasks, due to the need to recondition the plant which provides the industry with the blanks from which the glass linings are made. We have arranged for a quantity of blanks to be imported to relieve this situation, but it will still be necessary to restrict the scope of the permit scheme, which has since 1942 been voluntarily run by Thermos (1925) Ltd. in close cooperation with Government departments, to ensure that essential needs for flasks have the first call on the very limited supplies available. For the next few months, permits must be issued much more sparingly222W than in the past, and claims to permits will have to be more closely scrutinised. I much regret that this cut should have to be made with the winter months ahead. The company will continue to distribute the whole of the home market supplies of their standard one pint flasks through the permit scheme, and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking them for the trouble they have taken to operate the scheme effectively. The capacity of the vacuum flask industry is being substantially increased and several new firms are entering it. It is hoped that before the middle of next year production will be sufficient to satisfy the home market without the need for a permit scheme, and in addition to provide a substantial margin of flasks for export.