asked the Minister of Works how many business and residential premises have been de-requisitioned in the three years since the present Government took office, as compared with the previous three years.

Government Departments have de-requisitioned 733 residential premises, and 1,858 other holdings during the last three years. The comparable releases for the previous three years were 2,855 and 2,966.

As obviously those figures cannot give a correct picture, would my hon. Friend give the relative percentages during the period?

During the last three years we have de-requisitioned 70·5 per cent. of the outstanding properties requisitioned as opposed to 53 per cent. In fact, we are de-requisitioning nearly half as fast again as under the previous Government.