Mr. Baker White:

asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that posters issued by the Catering Wages Board are being circulated to catering establishments and canteens that have been closed down for considerable periods; and whether he will take the necessary steps to stop this waste of paper at a time of acute shortage.

The list of employers to whom Catering Wages Board notices are being issued are revised at quarterly intervals from information received from the Ministry of Food and the licensing Justices regarding new undertakings and undertakings closed down, and the proportion of cases in which notices have been sent to employers who have subsequently been discovered to have closed has been extremely small.

Mr. Baker White:

Is the Minister aware that the poster which I hold in my hand is one of his own posters which has been circulated to canteens which have been shut for over two years? Is he also aware that I have a little brother to that poster, almost as large, which has been circulated with it, and will he stop this great waste of paper?

I am afraid that if we did not send them to everybody who was on our list as being entitled to them, we should get into trouble. The check I made upon the last return shows that only one half of 1 per cent. of those posters sent out were sent back as being no longer required.