asked the Minister of Works under what statutory authority his Ministry has provided in Circular No. 14315 that the use of standard products will be obligatory whenever it is proposed to use such products for work which is subsidised by the Government.

It was announced in the recent White Paper on housing that the Government would expect local authorities to use standardised building materials and fitments in their housing programme. The document referred to in the question was a confidential note addressed by the Ministry of Works to the other Government Departments concerned and to two trade associations, with the object of obtaining their views as to which standardised products should be included in the list. This was not, therefore, in any sense an official circular or instruction.