§ Major NEWMANasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, without hear-in the local authorities, who had intimated their desire to be heard, his Board on the 11th ultimo made an Order, at the request of the Tottenham District Light, Heat, and Power Company abolishing the illuminating standard of their gas and substituting a calorific standard of 500 thermal units per cubic foot; if so, whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction felt by consumers at the lack of pressure and adverse manner in which many of the meters work; and will he have immediate inquiry made into these complaints?
Mr. ROBERTSApplication has been made to the Board of Trade by the company in question for an Order under the Gas (Standard of Calorific Power) Act, 1916, and objections have been lodged by some of the local authorities concerned. There appeared to the Board to be no need for a formal inquiry, but they gave full consideration to the representations made to them in writing by the local authorities, to whom they sent on the 11th January the draft of an Order which they proposed to make substituting a calorific standard of 500 British Thermal Units for the existing illuminating standard and increasing the statutory minimum pressure at which gas is to be supplied. The Board have not yet made the Order, and before doing so they propose to consider any observations on the draft Order which the local authorities desire to submit.