asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by what body, and by how many persons, is the work done in his Department that was formerly undertaken by the Food Council; whether these persons are paid, and at what rate; and whether he can approximate the difference in cost to the State caused by the new arrangement?

The work of the Food Council (which is a body of persons working on a voluntary basis and reporting to the Board of Trade) is, in present circumstances, in abeyance. General responsibility for food prices during war rests with my Department, and I regret that I do not see that it is possible to make the comparisons suggested by my hon. and learned Friend.

Will the Minister tell me whether the people now doing this work in his Department are paid officers, and whether there was any need to take the work from people who were doing it voluntarily and to pay others to do it at the cost of the taxpayers?

The two problems are not at all comparable. You cannot compare the working of a voluntary organisation such as the Food Council with the work of a Department exercising these compulsory powers, which were introduced for the very purpose of ensuring the fulfilment of the purpose for which the Food Council was set up.

But is it not a fact that the work of the Food Council was done very satisfactorily by people who gave their services voluntarily?