§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he is aware that many people are finding difficulty in obtaining their petrol ration books, having to go to many post offices and making several visits because the right type of book is not available; and whether he will take action to obviate these difficulties.
§ Mr. Tom BoardmanThe issue of basic ration books by post offices has gone very smoothly indeed and is almost complete. The temporary difficulties outlined by the hon. Member have arisen only in a small minority of cases and have been quickly remedied.
§ Mr Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many extra civil servants were taken on to carry out matters connected with the introduction and issuing of petrol ration books; how many were switched from other work; and how this affected the normal work of these civil servants.
§ Mr. Tom BoardmanThe issuing of petrol ration books was carried out by the Post Office. To man the petroleum offices, which will deal with supplementary allocations should rationing be introduced, about 850 temporary staff have so far been engaged. A further 325 civil servants have been provided by Government Departments; since a large number of offices contributed, the effect on normal work cannot readily be quantified.