HL Deb 12 May 1953 vol 182 cc390-1

2.43 p.m.

LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTH

My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when the inspector's report into the train accident at Harrow on October 8, 1952, will be available to Parliament.]

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE CO-ORDINATION OF TRANSPORT, FUEL AND POWER (LORD LEATHERS)

My Lords, your Lordships will appreciate that the report on this major accident will have to deal with the whole complex subject of automatic train control, and in these circumstances I should not wish to tie the Chief Inspecting Officer to a definite date for publication. But the report is well advanced, and I certainly hope that it will be available next month.

LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTH

My Lords, while I am grateful to the noble Lord, the Secretary of State, for his reply, I am at the same time very disturbed, and I am sure the public will be, too. The public wish to know the cause of the accident. To find that is the inspecting officer's prime duty. It is not, I would submit, with respect to the noble Lord, the inspecting officer's duty to acquaint himself with all the remedies that will be taken in the years to come. It is seven months since this most tragic accident occurred. Unfortunately, the noble Lord will have to deal with many other accidents. I think the issue of this report should be expedited, and I hope the noble Lord will take note that it should be possible to deal with these things in a more expeditious manner in the future.

LORD LEATHERS

My Lords, I should like to say this, and I have referred to it in an Answer to an earlier Question. First of all, the inspecting officer made an immediate report after the close of the inquiry. That was a short statement which made it quite clear just what had been the cause of the accident. What he has pursued ever since is the very necessary consideration of what steps can best be taken to ensure that we do not get a repetition in the future. It is far better for us to have a report that is really worth while and which will give us guidance for the future. We shall have the report next month, and I think that is all I can say.