§ 81. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what consideration he has given to the 96th Annual Report on Alkali, &c., Works with special reference to those parts which deal with North Staffordshire, the fifty-two bottle ovens the owners of which have no plans for conversion to smokeless methods, the problems of fluorine emission, and the heavy smoke emission which continues in parts of the City of Stoke-on-Trent; what action he proposes to take in the matter; and if he will give special attention to the tileries and the Chatterley Iron Process Plant.
§ Sir K. JosephMy right hon. Friend approves the proposals for action and further investigation indicated in this Report in respect of works in North Staffordshire, including the bottle ovens, and in respect of fluorine emissions. The Stoke-on-Trent City Council's programme for creating smoke control areas envisages the complete elimination of domestic smoke by 1980. The Alkali Inspectorate is giving particular attention to troublesome emissions from certain tileries and from those processes at the ironworks which are under their control.