30 May 1940
MEMORANDUM FOR POLICY COMMITTEE

PAPER RATIONING .

1. Two committees have been set up to allocate the available supplies of paper. The “Rae” Committee of the Treasury allocates supplies to Government Departments; the “Burghley” Committee of the Ministry of Supply allocates supplies to private consumers. The Ministry of Information is affected by both committees and has been asked to state without delay its probable needs from now until the end of the year.

2. All “unofficial” users of paper are being allowed a ration of paper based on a percentage of their pre-war consumption. The Ministry of Supply has laid down that if this Ministry wishes to back demands in excess of this ration by private publications, the excess must come out of the Ministry's own ration.

3. Estimates of the Ministry's present and probable requirements have been prepared, and a memorandum for presentation to the Rae and Burghley Committees is attached. It is urgent that the Ministry's requirements should be notified to the two Committees before 30th May.

4. With regard to future procedure within the Ministry. It is suggested (i) that a committee be set up to allocate between Divisions the ration of paper granted to the Ministry.

(ii)That all Divisions who wish to obtain supplies of paper for a particular purpose be required to apply to this Committee.

(iii) That appeal should lie to the Policy Committee from the decisions of this committee, which would refer major cases to the Policy Committee.

(iv) That the chairman of the Committee should be a member of the Policy Committee, and that the General Division and all user Divisions should be represented on the Committee.

5. Apart from the requirements set out in the Ministry's memorandum it is suggested that the Ministry should make a special recommendation to the Burghley Committee to encourage book production. The Committee might be asked to allow a higher percentage of their normal consumption to book publishers (who were only responsible before the war for less than 2% of the national pre-war consumption) than to other nonofficial users.

27th May, 1940.