HC Deb 17 June 1901 vol 95 cc559-60
MR. D. A. THOMAS

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps other than publication in the London Gazette were taken by his Department, as required by the Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act, 1900, to inform the persons affected of the place where the draft of the Prevention of Accidents Rules, 1901, recently issued, might be obtained, and of the time within which objections or suggestions might be lodged with the Board of Trade; whether he is aware that in many cases owners of wagons received the information indirectly and some time after the draft rules were issued; and whether, having regard to the interchange of traffic that takes place between the various railway systems, and the fact that no wagon constructed or reconstructed after twelve months from the coming into operation of the rules may be received or used for traffic on any railway without brake levers that can be conveniently operated upon from either side of the wagons, he will, with a view to securing uniformity, consider the advisability of indicating a standard brake to which all brakes should conform in order to meet the minimum of convenience required by the Board of Trade.

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

A copy of the Gazette notice was sent in April to each of forty-six newspapers and reviews, as well as to four press agencies, and to the various companies and persons to whom railway accidents reports are usually sent. Copies of the draft rules were sent on the same date to the Railway Companies' Association, the Association of Private Owners of Railway Rolling Stock, the Railway Carriage and Wagon Builders' Association, and the Mining Association of Great Britain. About 900 copies of the Draft Rules have been supplied, in all, to persons and companies affected. The point raised in the last part of the hon. Member's question is one to be considered in connection with the objections which have been made to the draft rules under Section 2 of the Act. These objections will, in the first instance, be submitted to Lord James of Hereford, who will advise the Board thereon.

MR. D. A. THOMAS

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there are a number of colliery owners, owning considerably over a thousand wagons, who never received any notice at all?

MR. GERALD BALFOUR

I am not aware of that, but I should imagine it is impossible to directly notify everybody.