Toilet Paper: Shortages

(asked on 10th March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of shortages of toilet paper; and what discussions they have had with newspaper operators about whether newspapers can be printed to be used as an alternative to toilet paper.


Answered by
Lord Callanan Portrait
Lord Callanan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This question was answered on 24th March 2020

The Government is in regular contact with businesses, including retailers, to discuss the impact of Coronavirus on industry, including supply chains, and preparedness planning.

On 9 March, we announced an extension of delivery hours for supermarkets and other food retailers, to help the industry respond to Coronavirus. The new measures enable food retailers to increase the frequency of deliveries to their stores, so they can move stock quickly from warehouses across the country to replenish their shelves.

The Government has also introduced new measures to support businesses to keep food supply flowing on to shelves and into homes. For example, we have temporarily relaxed competition laws, allowing supermarkets to work together. The rules on driver’s hours have also been flexed to allow a higher frequency of deliveries to stores, so shelves can be replenished at pace.

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