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The Ealing representatives on this Committee were:—
Councillor J. T. C. Hancock (Chairman).
Councillor A. W. Morbey.
Chief Public Health Inspector.
Supply of Fuels in Smoke Control Areas
No difficulties affecting the supply of smokeless fuels were experienced during the
year, although in one or two isolated instances householders were short of supplies
caused by delivery delays and lack of sufficient foresight in placing orders with their
fuel merchants. Enquiries of the main distributors serving the Borough revealed that
the period between receipt of orders and delivery varied from 7 to 21 days and none
reported any shortage of supplies from production sources.
Grant arrangements
The new grant arrangements referred to in last year's annual report, and authorised
by the Minister of Housing and Local Government in his Circular No. 69/63, made
it possible for grants to be paid for providing a much wider range of approved
appliances, including openable stoves, under-floor draught fires and fixed gas, electric
storage and oil heaters, to replace firegrates of unapproved types. In this Circular the
Minister informed local authorities that grants for the installation of improved open
grates would only continue to be payable when they were informed that supplies of
open grate fuel would be available for proposed new areas. Otherwise grants would
be payable for replacing such grates by other types of appliances. Approaches to the
fuel producers and distributors listed in the Circular were made before any reports
on proposed new areas were submitted to the Council and no unfavourable replies
were received. It was, therefore, not necessary to discontinue the payment of grant
for the installation of improved open grates and the demand for these remained
fairly high in all areas. The wider range of appliances now grant aided resulted in a
very marked increase in the number of grant applications and this was particularly
so in the No. 17 Smoke Control Area where the original estimate was exceeded for
the first time.
Electricity Supplies
In Circular 69/63 the Minister advised that the use of direct electric space heaters
added to the difficulties being experienced by the electricity supply industry in meeting
peak loads in cold weather and asked local authorities to discourage their use.
Grants for the installation of approved types of fixed electric fires using direct electric
current were therefore restricted to the cost of providing ordinary improved open
fires, or a sum of £14 whichever was the lesser amount. The demand for such appliances
with grant assistance was fortunately small, as most householders appeared
to appreciate the risks involved in relying on electricity for heating purposes in very
cold weather.
In December, 1964, the Minister issued Circular No. 60/64 in which he designated
all electrically operated space heating appliances as a class of appliance which was
generally unsuitable for installation in England and Wales as tending, by reason of
its consumption of electricity at times when it is generally used, to impose undue
strain on the fuel resources available. The designation did not apply to electric
storage heaters using off-peak electricity. The effect of this Circular was to prohibit
any further grant payments for direct acting electric heaters. The Minister is to keep
the position under review in the light of changes in the fuel supply position.
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