§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps 370W are being taken under the emergency regulations to ensure that retirement pensioners, the disabled, and families with young babies are not placed at risk of hypothermia through being deprived of warmth; and whether he will give them priority for supplies of solid fuels for domestic use, particularly in those areas where merchants have discontinued small-quantity deliveries and take-away supplies have disappeared.
§ Mr. Tom BoardmanThe public have been asked to achieve substantial economies in the use of electricity in the home, but not to the point at which health is endangered. Similarly orders restricting the use of electricity and other fuels exempt invalids and other people with health risks as well as hospitals, medical centres and similar institutions. Most coal merchants are members of the Approved Coal Merchants Scheme which carries an obligation, if necessary in conjunction with other traders, to give priority to those in the categories mentioned, and I am watching the position closely in conjunction with the National Coal Board and the coal trade.