§ 21. Mr. Nealasked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will give a general direction in the national interest to area gas boards to accept surplus gas from the carbonisation plants of the National Coal Board.
§ Mr. Aubrey JonesI am satisfied that there is already sufficiently close and continuous consultation between area gas 17 boards and the National Coal Board to ensure the maximum possible use of gas made at the National Coal Board's carbonisation plants.
§ Mr. NealWhat kind of muddle is the Minister attempting to justify? Is he aware that last week the East Midlands Gas Board, in defiance of the price freeze, announced increases of prices and, on the very same day, the carbonisation officer of the National Coal Board announced that £120,000 worth of gas was being turned to waste because the East Midlands Gas Board would not accept it?
§ Mr. JonesI am not justifying any muddle. What has happened in the East Midlands is the teething trouble which often arises when a new plant is started. Even so, with this teething trouble, the amount of gas lost in the months of May and June in the East Midlands area was 4½ per cent. of the total gas supplied by the National Coal Board in that area and less than 1 per cent. of the Board's average sale in the summer.