§ 30. Mr. DUNCAN MILLARasked the Home Secretary if he can state whether the revised Regulations under Section 85 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, dealing with the provision of rescue apparatus at all mines, have now been adjusted; whether any arrangement was come to between the mine-owners and the representatives of the miners as to their amended form; and whether the Regulations will now secure that self-contained breathing apparatus will be made available for immediate use at every coal mine in case of emergency, whatever may be the number of men employed in the mine?
§ Mr. McKENNAI have been in communication both with the Owners' Association and the Miners' Federation, with a view to agreeing to the terms of the new Regulations before formally proposing them under the Act, and hope that the matter, which has had to be referred to the committees of those two bodies, will be settled this week. Except in the case of a few small mines which are exempt, the Regulations will make the provision of self-contained apparatus, either at the mine or at the central station to which the mine is affiliated, compulsory in all cases.