Page 109
108
2
Page 110.
Page 110 (vi) Black market supplies. In the six months ended 30th April there were some 1,000 convictions by the Courts of dealing in illicit supplies of meat, eggs and feeding-stuffs, although in the last two cases only large- scale offences are taken to Court. The prevalence of illicit dealing in meat is especially disturbing because, in general, the meat has been obtained either by illicit slaughter or from illegal disposal of knacker yard meat with danger to public health from diseased meat.
5. I have given fresh instructions that the attention of the Enforcement Officers must be concentrated on checking abuses which represent a real threat to supplies of rationed food and the rationing system itself. For the most part it is traders and dealers in the black market who must be watched because these are the people who deal in quantities of scarce foods large enough to affect supplies to the public.
6. I am anxious that the size of the staff employed on this work shall be no larger than is essential; but the minimum scale of activity depends almost entirely on the area of control. Every abolition of controls helps to make possible a reduc- tion of enforcement staff. The abolition of points rationing and of the restrictions on meals in restaurants, together with a number of price controls, made it possible for my predecessor to cut down the number of Inspectors substantially. As soon as we can further reduce the area of control I hope to bring the number down even further. The present staff is not excessive in relation to the work to be done. It consists of 665 officers (of whom 568 are employed in the Regions, 10 are at Headquarters, and the remainder are accountants and other experts). This repre- sents about one Inspector for 85,000 of population, or for 160 square miles in area covered, and it is barely adequate for the work which still has to be done.
Ministry of Food, S.W. I,
26th June, 1952.
L
G. LL.-G.
APPENDIX
POWERS OF ENFORCEMENT INSPECTORS
(1) To enter and carry out an inspection of any *food undertaking.
(2) To require any person carrying on such undertaking or employed in con- nection therewith to produce such books, accounts, or records and to furnish such information relating to the undertaking, as he may deem necessary for the aforesaid purposes.
(3) To take such samples and carry out such tests as he may deem necessary for the said purposes.
(4) To make such copies of, or extracts from, any document produced to him as he considers necessary for the information of the competent authority.
.
*Food undertaking" is defined in the Inspector's warrant as Any undertaking by way of trade or business, concerned in the production, treatment, keeping, storage, movement, transport, distribution, disposal, acquisition, use or consumption of any food".