§ 23. Mr. Peter Freemanasked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he will introduce a Bill in order to implement the finding of the Royal Commission on Safety in Mines in the near future, including in it proposals relating to the improvement in the conditions of horses and ponies in mines.
§ Mr. GaitskellThere has not yet been an opportunity for a Bill to overhaul the Coal Mines Act, 1911, on the lines recommended by the Royal Commission on Safety in Coal Mines which, incidentally, did not recommend any amendment of the law relating to the care and treatment of pit ponies. As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary explained in the course of the Debate on the Second Reading of the Coal Industry Bill, many of the recommendations of the Royal Commission have already been implemented by regulations made under existing powers, and powers are being taken in that Bill to deal similarly with most of the remainder.