§ 43. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent his Department was consulted about the plans to prepare deep mines in North Staffordshire for civil defence purposes in case of a hydrogen bomb attack.
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithThere has been no occasion for such consultations.
§ Mr. SwinglerIs not the Home Office supposed to be co-ordinating Civil Defence plans and to give expert guidance on them? As it is the Government's policy not to provide or prepare deep shelters for the population in general, the question is whether it is not a waste of time and money for the National Coal Board to follow a quite different policy.
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithThe sole purpose of the work undertaken by the National Coal Board in deep mines is to improve the safety of miners who might be caught underground in an attack. There has been no suggestion that the investigations to which the hon. Member has referred were for purposes of public shelters. Had they been so, they would have been initiated by and been the responsibility of the Home Office.