§ Mr. Kirbyasked the Minister of Fuel and Power what steps he has taken to improve the supply and distribution of coal in the City of Liverpool.
Major Lloyd GeorgeWith regard to the supply position, the deficiency on rail-borne supplies to Liverpool is being made good by withdrawals from Government reserve dumps. Four dumps in Liverpool are open and are being drawn upon by the merchants, while additional supplies are also being forwarded by rail to merchants' yards from Government dumps outside Liverpool. There is no reason, therefore, for any merchant in Liverpool to be without supplies. Merchants and their employees have been working at week-ends, and the strain on the distributive facilities has been eased by using lorries provided by the Ministry of War Transport to move1460W coal from dumps into merchants' yards, particularly in the poorer quarters of Liverpool.