§ MR. JOHN WARDTo ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the town council for Stoke-on-Trent have made formal application to his Department for sanction to borrow £7,555 to extend electrical mains to the district of Fenton for the supply of power to manufacturers and others; whether the Local Government lave considered the same and the damage to the trade of the district which will result from unnecessary delay in providing energy; and what action, if any, it is proposed to take in the matter.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) The town council have made such an application. A local inquiry has been held, and the town council have been informed that any question of supply to Fenton should be deferred pending a settlement in regard to the question of the federation of the potteries towns. The inspector reported that no evidence was brought forward at the inquiry to show the immediate necessity for a supply of electrical energy in Fenton, and I am advised that it is doubtful whether the capital expenditure contemplated with that object would prove remunerative.