§ 31. Mr. McKinlayasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the action of the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company, refusing to install electricity in new houses in Dunbartonshire unless gas is excluded from the services laid on; and that the Company have offered to run service cables free of charge and arrange to supply electric cookers and immersion water heaters on hire purchase terms on condition that gas be excluded; and what steps he will take to ensure that no such monopoly is permitted.
§ Mr. WoodburnI am not aware of the particular circumstances to which the hon. Member refers, but if he would let me have details I shall make inquiries. In general it is not desirable that tenants should be compelled to depend entirely on one type of fuel to the complete exclusion of another.
§ Mr. McKinlayIs my right hon. Friend aware that the Clyde Valley Company have announced that it is uneconomic for them to lay electrical services in competition with the gas services already laid on; that when the gas supply is within 30 feet of a dwelling house the gas authority are compelled to link it up, but that does not seem to apply to an electrical undertaking?
§ Mr. WoodburnIt may be a statement of fact that it is uneconomical, but I can only repeat that we do not necessarily think it desirable that tenants should be compelled to rely on one method of heating.
§ Mr. McKinlayI beg to give notice that I will raise this matter again on the Adjournment.