asked the Minister of Food whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that families living in isolated districts were without food supplies for long periods during the winter; and what steps he proposes to take to allow these families to build up a reserve stock to prevent the recurrence of such conditions next winter

Local officers of my Department already have authority to allow families in isolated areas to lay in stocks of food by using coupons in advance. I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving me an opportunity to make it clear that these facilities exist, as I do not think the fact is universally known.