§ 20. Mrs. Mannasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ask the Interdepartmental Committee on Home Safety to furnish reports on the incidence of fatal accidents where these are highest in the cities and burghs of Britain so that concentrated propaganda may be stimulated in the areas where it is most required.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThe figures are not available.
§ Mrs. MannIt is a great tragedy that they are not available, and I should like the Home Secretary to try to have them made available as soon as possible. Would he not agree that if we pin-pointed certain cities, showing their very high death rates through accidents, it would be a spur to these cities themselves to take action in dealing with accidents in the homes?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeIt is not an easy matter, I assure the hon. Lady, because if, for example, there were an accident which involved a number of lives, it would put the figures for that particular place out of all proportion. It is not an easy matter to get figures which would be of value throughout the whole country. But I am prepared to look into this.
§ Mrs. MannDoes not the right hon. and gallant Gentleman recognise that we already do this about road accidents, pinpointing dangerous corners and dangerous cross roads, but that we are doing nothing about home accidents?
Mr. J. T. PriceWhile the Home Secretary is gathering further information on this very important question, would he pay particular attention to the large amount of defective electric apparatus of all kinds, which is badly constructed and ill-designed, which is being let loose in the British homes and which in itself is a major factor in causing many home accidents?
§ 21. Mrs. Mannasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what 1956 action is directed by his Department to lower the casualty rate of accidents in the home; and what agencies are used for this purpose.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThe design of houses and household appliances and education of the public are important factors in reducing casualties caused by accidents in the home. Advice on the design of houses is given in manuals issued by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, and on the design of appliances by committees of the British Standards Institution on which representatives of various Departments serve. Education is given in schools and by propaganda by a number of agencies, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. These various activities are co-ordinated by the Standing Interdepartmental Committee.
§ Mrs. MannIs not the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that accidents in the homes cause thousands more deaths per annum than accidents on the roads? Is he aware that the Minister of Transport has told me that he gives £262,000 per annum for propaganda, whereas the right hon. and gallant Gentleman has told me that he is stopping any further grant to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in the Homes?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI can only say that the machinery for co-ordinating the activities of the various agencies which are concerned in the matter is working well. It is a regrettable but true fact that the vast majority of accidents in the homes involve people over 65 years of age, which makes it a very difficult problem. It is rather surprising, but it is a fact, that the majority are people over 65.
§ Mr. YoungerCan the right hon. and gallant Gentleman confirm or deny the rumour which I frequently hear that there is the greatest possible difficulty in getting the manufacturers of such appliances as electric fires to boost the safer makes at the expense of the more old-fashioned and less safe makes? Is he satisfied, or is he not satisfied, with the co-operation from the commercial trade in this matter?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI should like notice of that question. I could not say without notice.