asked the Minister of Food the figures for the number of start employed in the local offices, excluding regional office staffs, at Aberdeen, Middlesbrough, Bradford, Newcastle, Sunderland and Glasgow.

The number of staff, including part-time staff, cleaners, etc., employed in these local food offices on 1st January, 1947, was; Aberdeen City, 96; Aberdeen County, 75; Middlesbrough, 57; Bradford, 160; Newcastle, 167; Sunderland, 12; and Glasgow, 615.

Does my hon. Friend realise that there is absolutely no relation at all between the numbers of staff employed at these local food offices and the number of inhabitants in the towns, and will she undertake to review this whole question of staffing with a view to basing the staffs dependent on some establishment scheme instead of on the whim or incompetence of local food office managers?

I think my hon. Friend is totally misinformed. It has nothing to do with the whim of the local food office, but with the policy of the Ministry of Food.