§ 1. Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Health what decision has been reached in respect to the allocation of a grant to the Smoke Abatement Society to assist that organisation in its work on the problem of air pollution.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health (Miss Patricia Hornsby-Smith)My right hon. Friend has informed the Society that he is not prepared to recommend that a grant should be made to them.
§ Mr. DoddsIs that not a most unsatisfactory answer in view of the fact that several thousand people died in London alone as a result of air pollution? Is not the Minister of Health concerned about this? Will he bear in mind that the Society has been doing excellent work and that never has so much been done for so many on so little?
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithThe hon. Member is well aware that a committee has been set up by the Ministers of Housing and Local Government and Fuel and Power and the Secretary of State for Scotland for the very purpose of investigating this matter, and it is far more likely to produce the results required than is a body over which the Government have no control.
§ Mr. HastingsAm I not right in believing that the least important part of fog is smoke?