§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Minister of Power (1) if he will take steps to make more information available to the public on the indirect costs of conversion to North Sea gas and on the possible dangers, following the recent inquest at Cambridge into the death of a man by overgassing;
(2) what is the minimum experience and training for a gas converter; if he is satisfied that the present training provides adequate protection for the general public; and if he will make a statement;
(3) if he will issue a general direction to the gas boards to provide complete inspection of all conversions to North Sea gas carried out by sub-contractors.
§ Mr. FreesonI regret very much this unfortunate accident, but I am glad to say that accidents since conversion to natural gas started have been very rare. As I informed my hon. Friend the Member for Ince (Mr. McGuire) on 22nd April [Vol. 782, c.53.], over half a million converted consumers are now using natural gas but there have been only 24 accidents involving personal injury. The arrangements for training converters, 57W for supervision of their work, and for giving guidance to consumers are all covered fully in the contracts between Gas Boards and their contractors or, where the conversion is done by Boards themselves, by their internal organisation. I do not think I could usefully add to these arrangements and I am sure that the gas industry and their contractors will continue to exercise the utmost care about safety in converting consumers to natural gas.
§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Minister of Power what was the quantity of North Sea gas piped to the land in 1967–68 and 1968–69, respectively; and what was the equivalent in tons of coal.
§ Mr. Freeson310 million therms and 940 million therms, equivalent to about 1.1 million and 3.4 million tons of coal respectively.