§ 44. Sir John Jarvisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the serious plight of garage owners, he will instruct local authorities dealing with civil defence vehicles, such as fire services and ambulance cars, to avail themselves of existing service stations instead of setting up their own stations in districts where garages with repair shops are practically idle?
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sir John Anderson)Local authorities have been asked to make suitable arrangements for the servicing and repair of vehicles used for civil defence purposes. I understand that in a number of instances agreements have already been made for this purpose with garage proprietors; but, where local authorities already have depots for the servicing of their own vehicles, they have naturally been advised to make as much use of them as possible. As regards emergency fire appliances, major repairs usually require specialist attention by the manufacturers. Minor repairs are executed in fire brigade workshops or, if these are not available or are overtaxed, at local garages or engineering works.