asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the shortage of teapots in the London area; if he will take steps to remedy the position; and, if it is not possible to get teapots immediately, whether he will secure that the manufacturers make available teapot lids.

Teapots are in short supply in London as elsewhere. Fuel allocations to the potteries have recently been raised and production of both teapots and lids should now steadily pick up.

Could the hon. Gentleman also arrange, in conjunction with the Ministry of Food, to make good the shortage of tea with which to fill the teapots?

While I am very grateful for hearing that there has been an increase in the allocation of fuel to the potteries, may I ask my hon. Friend to what extent that increase has been made, and what percentage there has been?

If my hon. Friend is asking what the percentage increase in fuel has been, I am afraid I do not know, but the allocation for the pottery industry is the same amount of fuel now as they had last year. It took effect from 1st June, and there has been an increase in production.

In view of the shortage of paper, will the hon. Gentleman bring to the attention of his civil servants the word "scarce" instead of "in short supply"?

Could my hon. Friend arrange for a supply of lids for teapots, apart altogether from teapots with lids?

The trouble about asking for a supply of lids is that probably they would not fit the pots anyhow. In any case, my experience is that spouts are broken as often as lids, and I am quite satisfied that the right thing is to secure complete teapots.