Mr. Baldwinasked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he is aware that there has been no appropriate reduction in the retail price of firewood logs since the introduction of the Wood Fuel Prices (Wholesale) Order, 1946, limiting the 350W amount which a producer may receive; and if he will take steps to enforce such a reduction.
§ Mr. ShinwellThe primary purpose of the Wood Fuel Prices (Wholesale) Order, 1946, was not to effect an all round reduction in the retail price of firewood logs but to check a tendency on the part of some distributors to charge excessive prices and to prevent prices in general from rising further. The costs of retailing wood fuel in any area must necessarily vary according to the handling and transport charges, and appropriate margins are agreed by my regional coal officers with the principal distributors so as to prevent exorbitant retail prices.
The public has been advised to bring to the notice of the local fuel overseer any instance where an excessive price appears to have been charged, and if on investigation this is found to be the case, I have power under Defence Regulations, to make an Order prohibiting the merchant concerned from selling or supplying wood fuel except at a price not exceeding that named in a permit.