§ 9. Mrs. Joyce Butlerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will send a circular to local authorities drawing attention to their powers to prosecute sellers of defective second-hand oil heaters.
§ Mr. EnnalsA circular was issued to local authorities in June 1966 explaining the effect of the relevant Regulations, and I take this opportunity of reminding them of their powers.
§ Mrs. ButlerBut does my hon. Friend realise that many defective oil heaters are on sale at second-hand shops and jumble sales and in markets precisely because their former owners found them defective? In view of the very small number of heaters sent in by local authorities since the circular went out, even though fires caused by defective oil heaters continue, could my hon. Friend find another way of encouraging local authorities to take their duties in this respect more seriously?
§ Mr. EnnalsIf a defective oil heater is sold in a shop an offence is clearly committed. There has not been a court case concerning jumble sales. But the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has already urged that these heaters should not be sold in them. My hon. Friend is right to say that this is a serious problem. In 1966, 49 people died in England and Wales as a result of fires caused by oil heaters.