§ 5. Captain W. T. Shawasked the Minister of Fuel and Power why, in Scotland, licences for coal for agricultural purposes such as threshing grain, and for dairy farms for sterilising bottles, utensils, etc., are only granted out of surplus coal; whether he is aware that in certain districts of Angus there is no surplus coal, so that these licences are, under present circumstances, useless; and whether he will review the situation with a view to giving the necessary priority for coal required for agricultural purposes?
§ The Minister of Fuel and Power (Major Lloyd George)Scottish agricultural requirements for large coal are met from the general allocations of house coal to local merchants, supplies being released on the production of a permit from the local fuel overseer. Where no surplus current supplies are available, these requirements are provided by the merchants from their stock. Such stocks are generally good in Angus at the present time, but there are a few districts where the release of agricultural coal against licence has been delayed owing to local shortage. Steps have been taken to rectify this.