asked the Minister of Health whether priority will be given in all building for civilian purposes to the reconstruction of council houses and those being bought through building societies?

The question of postwar building priorities is one for decision by the Government after consideration of the advice given to them by my Noble Friend the Minister of Works, who is surveying the whole field in consultation with the other Ministers concerned. But I gladly repeat the assurance which I gave recently in the House that I shall press for the highest priority for housing work in view of its vital importance to the health and well-being of the nation, and I shall certainly have regard to the important point raised by my hon. Friend.

Will the right hon. Gentleman consider this point? Many people who have been buying their own houses want to know if there is any chance of their being rebuilt quickly after the war, because it will have some effect on whether they keep up their payments now or not.

Certainly.

asked the Minister of Health whether, in planning the erection of cottages after the war, he will state the contemplated average size of the gardens which shall be attached thereto.

The matter is under consideration by my Central Housing Advisory Committee, and I shall consider the advice I receive from them in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Town and County Planning.

Will the right hon. Gentleman also consider the need for allotments to go with cottages?

asked the Minister of Health whether, in his scheme for postwar building, special attention will be given to the construction of small houses for the use of aged married couples?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health whether local authorities in cases of acute lack of accommodation, are entitled to lease large empty houses which need a minimum of reconstruction, and accommodate therein sets of families under municipal supervision?

Local authorities have power to lease houses under Section 72 of the Housing Act, 1936, but reconstruction would be subject to the terms of the lease.

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that Mr. and Mrs. Hilditch, of Binley, near Coventry, after having had a house built for them, found the plans disapproved by the local authority concerned; and whether he will warn the public not to order building operations to be started before the necessary approval of plans has been obtained?

I am informed by the rural district council that this building contravenes their by-laws in several important respects. This unfortunate position would have been avoided if the plans had been deposited with the council in the ordinary way. The building seems to have been erected by a person who was not ordinarily engaged in the building trade. All regular builders are aware of the normal obligation to deposit with the local authority plans of a proposed building, and I do not think that any special warning is called for.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can increase the minimum quantity of furniture supplied to transferred war workers in billets where they are accommodated in bare rooms only; and whether he will take steps to impress further on the householders concerned that hospitality to such workers is a social duty of importance in the war effort?

I am not clear what the hon. Member has in mind, but if a householder on whom a war worker has been billeted is unable to provide a bed or bedding, arrangements have been made for these articles to be supplied from public stores. If the hon. Member will let me know of any particular difficulties which have been experienced, I will have inquiries made, and I will look into the matters raised in the document to which he has referred in his recent letter to me. As regards the last part of the Question, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour and National Service and I take every opportunity to impress on householders the importance of this matter in the national interest, and I am glad to say that in general the response is very satisfactory.

Will the right hon. Gentleman look into the situation in the particular districts referred to in the document?

Yes, Sir.

asked the Minister of Health whether transferred war workers are permitted to go on living in private houses, in which they have been billeted, during the absence, on holiday or for other causes, of the householders?

In such circumstances it would be the normal practice to move the person billeted to other accommodation for the time being.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is an unpatriotic minority of householders who do treat billetees with rudeness and inhospitality and will even go away for a week or two in order to avoid having workers billeted in their houses? Can he do anything about this?