§ 42. Mr. Edmund Harveyasked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether his attention has been called to the hardship of caravan dwellers whose caravans have been immobilised under war restrictions, in their inability to register for coal with a coal merchant under the terms of the Coal Distribution Order, 1943; and whether as permission to purchase coal from such merchants as are willing to supply them is rendered inoperative by the fact that merchants generally only receive enough coal to supply their registered customers and the caravans cannot now move about as formerly, he will modify the Order to meet this need.
Major Lloyd GeorģeI am not aware that caravan dwellers have suffered unduly in the matter of fuel supplies, but I am willing to examine any specific cases brought to my notice.
§ Mr. HarveyIs the Minister aware that one such case was brought to his notice where the applicant was merely told to go to a coal merchant?
Major Lloyd GeorģeThat might be so. But I have made inquiries in the Southern region where there were from 300 to 400 caravans, and there was no special complaint from any one of them.
Miss RathboneDoes not the right hon. and gallant Gentleman think, as these caravan dwellers are already living under considerable discomfort and are likely to continue doing so owing to the demand for houses, they ought to receive every encouragement?
Major Lloyd GeorģeThey do. They are treated very well and I know of no case of special hardship. One of the difficulties with caravan dwellers is to discover where last the caravan rested.