§ Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what undertakings have been given to him following his meeting with representatives of tractor manufacturers on 10th November, 1970;
(2) whether he has received any undertakings from tractor manufacturers since 13th January, 1971; and what replies he has sent;
(3) as manufacturers are refusing to give farmers a choice of safety cabs and 383W frames for tractors, whether he will now make regulations requiring that tractors must be equipped with a choice of cabs and frames when used, and not when sold;
(4) what consultations he has had with tractor manufacturers about their policy of using current regulations to compel farmers to buy only the most elaborate and expensive cabs resulting in unreasonable profits and preventing farmers from equipping their tractors with safety cabs as quickly as possible;
(5) if, in view of the failure of the Tractor Manufacturers' Association to co-operate with him in altering the policy of manufacturers over safety cabs for tractors, he will now have talks with individual manufacturers;
(6) when he proposes to alter the regulation on tractor safety cabs to ensure that manufacturers of tractors are not able to continue their present restrictive sale policy of refusing to sell tractors and cabs as separate units;
(7) as, following legislation to make the fitting of safety cabs to tractors compulsory, the manufacturers of tractors have increased their prices by up to £240 when safety cabs can be fitted for under £100, if he will now introduce amending regulations.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartI have had further discussions with representatives of the tractor manufacturers. I regret that the differences between us remain unresolved.
While I would still be only too glad if agreement could be reached, my present intention is to embark on consultations in due course with the representatives of employers and workers about amending the Regulations. It would be an essential feature of any change that an offence would still be committed if a tractor were used without a safety cab or frame, other than where the Regulations provided for exceptions.