§ 2.40 p.m.
§ LORD CHORLEYMy 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 whether they will take steps to prevent the use of patent metal roofing material of the kind which recently assisted the rapid and uncontrollable spread of fire 258 at the Jaguar works, Coventry, and led to the destruction of property valued at three million pounds and an unexpected heavy loss to our export trade.
§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (THE EARL OF MUNSTER)My Lords, the investigations into the fire at the Jaguar works are not yet complete. It would therefore be premature to draw any conclusions about the relative importance of the various factors which may have caused the fire to spread. Without minimising the importance of the problems which have been raised by this fire, I cannot say more at present than that when the investigations are concluded my right honourable friend the Minister of Housing will be prepared to consider, in consultation with other Ministers, whether any sufficient grounds are disclosed for considering some amendment of the model building by-law which mentions the use of metal roofing material of the kind in question.
§ LORD CHORLEYMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for his Answer, I must say that I find it rather unsatisfactory. The noble Lord does not seem to appreciate either the importance or the urgency of this matter. Is he aware that lire losses in this country are running at the rate of £50 million per annum, and that a substantial percentage of these have been aided by roofing material of this kind? Is he aware that the very big fire during the war at the Temple sorting office, over ten years ago, was attributed to the use of material of this kind; and that the largest industrial fire which has ever occurred in the world, at the General Motors Works in America, which caused damage to the extent of no less than £8 million, was largely aided by the use of this metal roofing covered with tarred bitumen material? Is he aware, further, that the Fire Protection Association, which represents the fire offices, the great insurance companies, in their latest bulletin attribute the great extent of the fire at the Jaguar works to the use of a bituminous-covered roofing of exactly the same kind? Does he not think that, in the light of all these considerations, a case has been made out for a very urgent consideration of this problem in order to save these really enormous sums of money, £50 million a 259 year? I am not saying that the whole of this loss is due to causes of this kind, but it is quite obvious that a substantial amount is. This particular bulletin refers to several other fires which have occurred in the same sort of way as that at the Jaguar works.
§ THE EARL OF MUNSTERMy Lords, I am aware or not aware, as the case may be, of all the points which the noble Lord has adumbrated, but I still think that it would be advisable in this case, without going to our friends in the United States of America, to complete our inquiries into the fire at the Jaguar works; then I shall be able to report, I hope with some success, and some comfort to the noble Lord.