§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what study she has made of the evidence supplied to her of an accident involving an electric blanket fire in a child's bed; if she will introduce regulations to ensure that electrical plugs are sold without fuses, so that the customer is more likely to insert a suitable fuse for the electrical equipment he or she is using; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Alan WilliamsI am advised that the use of a 13-amp plug fitted with a 3-amp fuse would not have prevented this accident, since localised overheating causing fires in electric blankets may take place with very little or no change in current drawn through the fuse. I am 63W satisfied with the conclusion of a committee of experts of the British Standards Institution that safety is best served by selling plugs fitted with fuses. I will be writing in further detail to my hon. Friend.