Quality (Hansard, 19 March 1951)

§ 18. Miss Irene Ward
asked the Minister of Fuel and Power why instructions have been given to the local fuel overseers not to forward complaints on the quality of the coal.

§ Mr. P. Noel-Baker
No such instructions have been given. Local fuel overseers have standing instructions to be as helpful as possible to any consumer who complains about the quality of the coal which he receives, and to ensure that he brings his complaint to the attention of the merchant who sold him the coal. This is necessary, because only the merchant can identify the coal and the pit from which it comes; a regular procedure for dealing with complaints has been agreed by the National Coal Board and the distributive trade.

§ Miss Ward
If complaints go forward from the fuel overseers to the right hon. Gentleman's Department, why do answers not come from his Department back to the consumer via the fuel overseer?

§ Mr. Noel-Baker
With respect, I think the hon. Lady has misunderstood my answer. The fuel overseers advise the consumers to take their complaints to the merchants who sold the coal. That is the only practicable plan.

§ Sir Waldron Smithers
Is the Minister aware that coal merchants are very reluctant to make complaints because they are victimised if they do?

§ Mr. Noel-Baker
No, Sir. If that were true, I should certainly hear about it from the Coal Merchants' Federation.

§ Colonel Ropner
Is there any reason why the fuel overseer should not institute inquiries into these complaints?

§ Mr. Noel-Baker
That would transform him into a kind of bureaucratic inspector of the private merchant. I think it is much better to trust the merchants to carry out the procedure to which they have agreed.

§ 19. Miss Ward
asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what representations he has received from the Industrial Consumers' Council and the Domestic Consumers' Council on the quality of coal; and whether he will give the substance of the complaints and state what action was taken.

§ Mr. P. Noel-Baker
The Consumers' Councils have drawn attention to the quality of coal in their annual reports, in the minutes of their meetings, and in other papers which I receive. It was with their views in mind that I asked the National Coal Board a year ago to take special measures to improve the cleaning of their coal. As I have said in answer to earlier Questions, and as the distributive trade agree, those measures have succeeded in a considerable degree.

§ Miss Ward
Is the Minister aware that according to the last annual report only 30 complaints were made to the Domestic Consumers' Council; and does he not think it is about time that there were regional domestic consumers' councils so that the complainants can be brought nearer to the people to whom they can complain?

§ Mr. Noel-Baker
As I explained on the last Question, the proper course for the consumer to take is to complain to his merchant, who will then carry out the agreed procedure.

§ Miss Ward
Has the Domestic Consumers' Council policy been abandoned by the right hon. Gentleman?

§ Mr. Noel-Baker
No, certainly not. They have done very useful work.

§ 29. Mr. Nabarro
asked the Minister of Fuel and Power the percentage of the 30,000,000 tons of household coal delivered to domestic consumers during the last year which was reported to be un-burnable due to dirt and deleterious matter; and what recompense is to be offered to domestic consumers in respect of the losses they have thus incurred.

§ Mr. P. Noel-Baker
No statistics are available which would enable me to reply to the first part of the hon. Member's question. There is an established procedure for dealing with complaints about the quality of housecoal, and I have no reason to suppose that it is not working well.

§ Mr. Nabarro
Is the Minister aware that, notwithstanding his conversations with the Coal Board, there is still considerable dissatisfaction with the quality of household coal? How long does he propose to allow this fuel fraud to continue?

§ Mr. Noel-Baker
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will send me some specific evidence after having verified the facts. As the right hon. Member for King's Norton (Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd), who I regret is not now in his place, knows—I apologise, I think that it was another hon. Member who last week put on the Order Paper a Question in which he alleged that a Mrs. Tansley had received 1 cwt. of coal of which 35 lb. was stone and slate. I inquired of the merchant and found that in tipping out that cwt. he had seen no signs of stone or slate, and that in respect of some 10 tons which he had delivered to other people he had not received a single complaint.

§ Mr. Nabarro
Does the right hon. Gentleman mean that I should make myself responsible for my right hon. Friend the Member for King's Norton (Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd) and that this is an open invitation to the whole country to send the right hon. Gentleman "concrete examples"?

§ Mr. Noel-Baker
It means that the hon. Gentleman should make himself responsible for the alleged facts which he presents to the House.