asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will introduce legislation to prohibit ice-cream vans from playing signature tunes indiscriminately, and thereby reduce unnecessary noise.

No, Sir. It is already an offence under Section 2 of the Noise Abatement Act, 1960, to operate these chimes outside the hours of 12 noon—7 p.m. or within these hours in such a manner as to give reasonable cause for annoyance.

In my constituency, where the inhabitants are mainly shift workers, these ice-cream vans travel about during the day and night. In spite of instructions issued by the Ice Cream Federation in which ice-cream vendors were asked not to sound these chimes in areas where shift workers were asleep, it is still going on. Will my right hon. Friend review the working of the Act?

The Act has been in force for one year only and I think it premature to consider amending it, although I appreciate what my hon. and gallant Friend says.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will give the number, and details, of the applications by public authorities, since 1951, to build on the Metropolitan Green Belt within the Chigwell Parliamentary constituency; and what was the result of these applications.

I am afraid that this information is not available.

Is my hon. Friend aware that many of my constituents will not be wholly satisfied with that reply? There is great anxiety among them, both in the Chigwell Urban District and in the Epping and Ongar Rural District, about what seems to be the increasing tendency of public authorities and institutions to encroach on the Metropolitan Green Belt? Anything that can be done to allay this anxiety will be more welcome than my hon. Friend's answer.

I do not think that my hon. Friend's constituents need be unduly disturbed. They can, of course, get a great deal of information from the registers which the local authorities keep, if they so desire.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is aware of the general dissatisfaction in the Wallsend area regarding the lack of progress on the Northumberland County Development plan, with particular reference to Wallsend; and what progress is now being made with the plan.

I know that Wallsend is concerned to get on with its main shopping area. A decision letter which will enable it to do this is being issued today.

I thank the Minister.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will consult Welsh local authorities on the question of the working of the leasehold system in Wales.

I will gladly consider any views which Welsh local authorities send me on the subject of the leasehold system.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that accommodating reply will be very favourably received in the Principality? Is he further aware that the Welsh people, while realising that he is still somewhat new to his present office, none the less hope that he will give urgent and sympathetic consideration to this problem which is of top priority among the people of the Principality?

The hon. Gentleman has made me fully aware of the importance that he attaches to this problem, but there is nothing further that I wish to say about it today.

Will the Minister say whether or not he has consulted the Council for Wales, which is a body to advise the Government on major Welsh issues, about this matter? If he has not, will he do so forthwith?

Quite frankly, there is no need for further consultation to demonstrate the feeling which has been expressed on this subject.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will conduct a plebiscite in Wales on the question of leasehold reform.

No, Sir.

Is the Minister aware that I am not surprised at his reply? Is he further aware that the petition that I recently presented to the House would be supported by a very large number of people if there were a plebiscite in Wales? Since the Government foisted on us a plebiscite on Sunday opening, it would be interesting if they gave us a really important subject on which to vote.

I am aware of the hon. Gentleman's passions for plebiscites, but this is too complicated a topic to be dealt with in that way.

The ratepayers of Wales would far more readily bear the burden of a referendum on this issue than on Sunday opening.

That may be, but there is not going to be a plebiscite.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he proposes to take on a short-term basis, pending the Report by the Standing Committee on Detergents, to mitigate the nuisance caused by foam blowing off the River Calder into the main shopping centre of the borough of Castleford, Yorkshire.

We advised the Borough Council of Castleford in October on steps that can be taken to deal with the situation on a short-term basis.

I know that this is a difficult problem, but the foam is a threat to the business community of the town, apart from being a nuisance to the well-being of some of the traders. However, would the Parliamentary Secretary lend his support if an approach were made to the British Transport Commission to reduce the level at the weir and thus avoid the breaking up of the water which is causing the foam to become airborne?

I appreciate that is a difficult problem. We have given our advice to the local authority. It is for the local authority to act on it if it sees fit. Modification of the weir is possible, but I think that it would be much too expensive.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many planning applications for office development in the London region he has called in in the past five years because he was not satisfied they complied with planning policy in the area.

Forty-three.

Since the withholding of planning consent is the only effective means of controlling office development in south-east England, would the Minister indicate how far he has informed the planning authorities in the area that he will uphold their decisions if they refuse consent to office applications which might attract workers to already overcrowded areas of overfull employment, and that he will call in, if necessary, any applications of that nature for his personal consideration?

The hon. Lady will, I think, appreciate that one cannot, and must not, announce in advance the decision which one will reach on all such applications before the details are available. In general, I regard this as a problem that needs to be solved and I am doing my utmost, in the first instance through the amendments proposed for the London Development Plan, to apply pressure to reduce the growing amount of office accommodation in London.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what measures the Government propose to take restrain office development in Greater London and South-East England.

The problems resulting from office development arise mainly in the central area of London. It is the policy of the Government and of the local planning authorities concerned to limit expansion there by restricting both the areas zoned for offices and the size of office buildings, and by rigid control over changes to office use from other uses, particularly from residential use.

Can the Minister give any details of how this policy will be carried out and how he proposes to tighten this control? In particular, is he aware that one of the many obstacles to any progress at the moment is the enormous financial compensation which local authorities have to pay if they refuse the necessary permission?

In answer to the first part of the supplementary question, I would say, without going into details, for they are a matter for consultation with London County Council, that the suggestions include cutting down the office zones, and the requirement of replacement of any residential accommodation on redevelopment. In answer to the second point, I realise the difficulties caused by the Third Schedule of the 1947 Act, under which there is to be compensation if a 10 per cent. increase is not allowed on reconstruction. Unfortunately, that 10 per cent. is interpreted in cubic space rather than in floor space.

Will my right hon. Friend take account of the fact that although office building uses only about 6 per cent. of the building force, that activity is concentrated in a few areas, including London and the Midlands, and to that extent is a serious problem?

I recognise that and I look at this mainly as a London problem, but I also recognise that there is a good case for replacing some of this out-of-date office accommodation.

Even though the 1947 Act was passed by a Labour Government, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will not look at the possibility of amending it, particularly with regard to the 10 per cent.?

Without particularly making any point about that, I am looking at this question.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that there is doubt as to the meaning of his Circular 42/55 about green belts, which mentions institutions standing in extensive grounds as being appropriate to a rural area; and whether this description applies to all new schools, regardless of their character.

The objects of the green belt policy are, I think, well understood. Whether a particular school should be allowed in a green belt will depend largely on the circumstances of the individual case and is, I suggest, best left to the local planning authority.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are many, like myself, who support the green belt policy but that there is anxiety about the encroachment into it by local authorities, for example, who naturally are tempted to do so because of the cheaper price of land, and even by his own Department? Would it not be better to clear up the wording of the circular?

To be more precise than in Circular 42 would be to reduce the discretion of those who know best—the local planning authorities.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs his present estimate of the population of Greater London in 1971; the current net rate of migration of population from Greater London; and how far these figures accord with the original estimates in the Greater London Plan.

I estimate that the population of the London conurbation, as defined for census purposes, will be rather less than 8 million people in 1971. The net rate of migration from this area during the last ten years has been more than 50,000 persons annually. Separate estimates are not available for the area covered by the Greater London Plan—the Abercrombie Report.

Do these figures show that there will be much greater pressure on living space in the Home Counties than was first anticipated? If so, what action is being taken now to meet these changed circumstances?

I think that my hon. Friend is right in the assumption he makes. Broadly speaking, the step now being taken following the circular to local authorities is a scrutiny with the planning authorities of the development plans with a view to bringing more and more land into development.

Have the Government any proposals for dealing with this serious congestion in population in this part of the country? What proposals have the Government for dealing with the intensification of the housing shortage which is thereby caused?

That is outside the scope of this Question, relating to estimates of population, but it is dealt with in another Question on the Order Paper.

As the relevant area from the point of view of living and working is not just Greater London, but the whole of the south-east corner of these islands, as I think the right hon. Gentleman would agree, can he hold out any hope that there will not be a still further large increase in the population of this area between now and 1971?

He would be a bold man who would forecast with firmness what will happen. I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that this is an important issue. A detailed study is being made of the whole of the south-east, which is the appropriate area to be studied for this purpose.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how frequently the lists of buildings of architectural or historic interest are revised.

No systematic revision of the existing lists of buildings of special architectural or historic interest has yet begun, though my right hon. Friend does, of course, make any necessary additions as they come to light.

Will my hon. Friend ensure that before supplementary lists are published, they are looked at and checked carefully in view of the fact that recently a well-known inn which had been demolished for two years was included in such a list? I will send my hon. Friend details.

We do our best to ensure that the lists are as accurate as possible.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs in how many local authority areas the lists of buildings of archæological and historic importance are incomplete; and what steps he is taking to improve the lists.

Out of 1,474 local authority areas, 998 were covered on 30th November, 1961, by full statutory lists of buildings of special architectural or historic interest. A further 251 areas have incomplete lists.

How is it that if the list is reasonably complete, historic buildings can get destroyed? Does not the hon. Gentleman think that there is reason to strengthen the law on this subject?

I do not accept that assertion.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will introduce legislation to amend the law relating to leaseholds.

I have no proposals for legislation at present.

Why not? Does the right hon. Gentleman seriously expect the House to believe that at least the Government are united on one topic?

My predecessor undertook to consider the letters of complaints which came in. He invited them and forty-nine such letters were received. They are being studied with the advice of the valuers, but I have nothing more to add to my reply.

Is the Minister aware that I like the words "at present" in his reply and that if he wants letters concerning the leasehold system from Wales I can arrange for him to have them by the thousand?

I had the impression that the hon. Member had already done his best to that end.

Can the right hon. Gentleman offer any single piece of evidence that on this subject or any other his policy is still not being run by his predecessor?

It is for the hon. Member with his well-known standards of fairness to arrive at his own conclusion.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what was the estimated cost to the nation of air pollution for 1959 and 1960.

It is not possible to make any reliable estimate but the cost was certainly considerable.

Does the hon. Gentleman recall that a few years ago the Beaver Committee estimated the loss to the nation at £300 million a year and that there is no reason to think that that vast sum has been reduced? Will he now do something to improve our services against air pollution and in particular the Alkali Inspectorate?

I am, of course, aware of the estimate made in 1954. It should be borne in mind that 1 million premises will be covered by smoke abatement orders by the end of the year.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there is some reason to think that the Alkali Inspectorate is far too restricted in its attitude and that units like Battersea Power Station, for example, appear to be creating increased pollution of the air to the detriment of the interests of local inhabitants?

That is an entirely different question.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that, following the issue of a Building Preservation Order, local authorities will be required to carry out essential repairs to the building designated in the order.

My right hon. Friend has no power to require the repair of buildings in respect of which a building preservation order has been made.

Would it not be a good thing if the hon. Gentleman took it now? Are not far too many buildings being destroyed because they are just left and nobody takes any interest in them?

I do not think that it is necessary to take any further power. Section 41 of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, authorises the compulsory acquisition of buildings in appropriate cases. There is also power to acquire by agreement, and there are various powers which enable grants to be made in proper cases.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs why in January, 1961, his Department gave authority to the North Riding County Council to grant planning permission to Westfield Estates Ltd. to develop at Ormesby Bank land not allocated for development in the town map.

The North Riding County Council sought authority to grant planning permission in this case on the grounds that this small extension of the residential area would not prejudice the general planning of the area or be injurious to amenity. My predecessor required the county council to advertise the application and to forward to him all objections received. There was one objection. Following a site inspection by an officer of the Department, no reason was seen to withhold authority.

Is it not remarkable that this exceptional permission was granted to a company whose chief director is chairman of the North Riding County Council and was formerly chairman of its Planning Committee? Did not the Minister's predecessor refuse other applications for land not allocated in the development map from other applicants, asserting at the time that sufficient land for development had already been allocated in the town map?

I think that is quite an unworthy insinuation. [HON. MEMBERS: "What?"] By mentioning the fact that the chairman was a director of the company concerned there is contained an insinuation. That fact was plainly stated to the council. It was known to my right hon. Friend the then Minister of Housing and Local Government. There has been no concealment of any kind. This application has been dealt with on the usual lines without any exceptions being made to general practice.

Withdraw.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that I was a member of the council and of the planning committee at the time in question, though I took not part in these proceedings? Is he further aware that while the present chairman of the county council was never chairman of the planning committee and is not a friend of mine, and indeed is a political opponent and has been my opponent in many local battles, nevertheless during the twelve years I have worked with him and against him on the county council I have detected not the slightest impropriety in any of his public conduct?

Withdraw.

Is the Minister aware that this is one example of the remarkably good fortune that has attended planning applications by this company? Is he aware that, although he has said that nothing has been concealed about it, nothing could be concealed? The fact was perfectly well known. It is quite wrong to say that I have made an insinuation. I am stating this plainly as a fact. The permission given was unquestionably exceptional. It was not land under allocation. The previous Minister had often refused applications for land not so allocated and had simply said that sufficient land had been already allocated. I ask again, why the exception?

The hon. Member repeats the charge, in the hope no doubt that some of the mud will stick. This application was entirely above board and was dealt with in the normal way.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs when approval, in principle, will be given by his Department to the Burntwood and District Sewerage and Sewage Disposal Scheme, in view of substantial inconvenience at present being caused to local residents by the absence of an efficient system.

This scheme was submitted to my right hon. Friend in mid-October. The Lichfield Rural District Council has been asked for some further particulars. As soon as these are received, arrangements will be made for the scheme to be investigated locally by one of our engineering inspectors. After that my right hon. Friend will give a decision as quickly as possible.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that I make no complaint of delay on the part of his Department, but that, although this is a local authority responsibility. I have considered it necessary to investigate the problem on the spot in view of the very bad situation that exists, including the entry into people's houses of effluent from lavatories and also from a local abattoir? Is he further aware that I consider that there is a severe risk to health, which I have duly reported? Will he ask for this investigation to be carried out with great urgency?

We will ask the council to supply the information we have requested as soon as possible.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what new arrangements he is making for housing overspill from Middlesex.

The Middlesex authorities themselves are able to enter into any overspill arrangements they consider necessary and desirable. The long-term overspill needs of Greater London as a whole, including Middlesex, are being studied in the Ministry as part of the general problem of the South-East.

Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that it is precisely because the County of Middlesex has no housing powers like London and other conurbations that it is necessary for him to initiate fresh overspill arrangements? Does he appreciate that the present arrangements will provide for only about 13,000 houses for the needs of people in Middlesex in the next ten years whereas there is an urgent need for double that number? If the right hon. Gentleman is waiting for reorganisation of local government, that will be too late because of the time that these things take to materialise.

The district councils have the power and, as the hon. Lady knows, in a number of cases, such as in the St. Neots scheme and the Bletchley scheme, have acted. Indeed, under the Housing Act which has just gone on the Statute Book, there is power to help the recipient authority. I recognise that there is a need and that there will be a growing need for such overspill arrangements, but the powers are with the district councils and it is for them to operate them.

Is the Minister aware that the authorities in Middlesex have said that whatever arrangements they make will be completely inadequate and cannot deal with the problem? Local authorities have admitted that.

I am sure that the district councils have the power to do what is sought and that no action is called for from me in this regard.

Is the Minister suggesting that a hundred houses a year at St. Neots will be adequate to deal with the Middlesex overspill problem?

No, not at all. There is a need for overspill arrangements for people from Middlesex. I am saying that the power resides with the district councils.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will introduce legislation to secure from local authorities details of evictions under the Rent Act and from other causes.

To do this would not help local authorities to deal with their housing problems: it would simply add to their burden of work which is already heavy enough.

When will the right hon. Gentleman wake up from the complacency of his colleagues on the Government Front Bench? Is he aware that we are sure that if there were an epidemic, he would stir the Ministry of Health to action? Is not this a social epidemic just as serious? Is the Minister quite heartless about the homeless in London and about the families which are being evicted in Slough, with children going to institutions and their parents separated and grubbing where they can? Is not the Minister aware of the scandal that this represents?

Thirty-nine eviction orders were reported to the Slough Council last year.

There are many more this year.

Four of them were obtained by the local authority. Let us face the real issue, which is that of housing in Slough. I recognise that there are difficulties. In the last ten years, 5,000 new houses have been built but the popula tion in the meantime has risen by 16,000. Next year, Slough will get approved the houses that it is able to build. That is the way to tackle the problem and not by turning this into a political issue.

Is the Minister aware that this has always been a political issue and that his predecessor made no bones about it? If information about the working of the Rent Act would not help the local authorities, might it not at least help the Ministry towards a wiser policy?

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will introduce legislation to give powers to rent tribunals to fix the rent of unfurnished lettings.

No, Sir.

Is not the Minister aware that London is graced by more rent exploitation than ever before? If the Government seriously want a pay pause, must we not have a rent pause as well? Is the Minister simply sitting back and doing nothing at all about it?

I shall certainly not sit back, but the Question seeks a reversion to rent control and that I am not willing to accept.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I propose to raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will take steps to collect and publish statistics showing how much new housing accommodation to rent is being provided by private builders.

No, Sir.

Did not the Government promise that, as a result of their housing policies, more private builders would build more houses to let? Was not that pretty well the carrot that was dangled before the House on more than one occasion? Is not the reason why the Government do not wish to collect these statistics the fact that they would show that in holding out that promise, the Government were guilty of a gigantic and cruel hoax at the expense of the people who desperately need houses?

The Rent Act had many objectives, including the conversion of large houses into flats, the improvement of property and better maintenance and repair. Those objectives have been achieved. It is a little odd that this complaint of too little housing to rent should come from a party which has done its best to discourage it by promising to repeal the Rent Act should it ever get back to power.

Since Government policy relies more and more on private building and discourages council building, ought not the Minister to be willing to obtain some sort of information as to the extent to which private building is meeting the need for accommodation to let?

Every house, whether built by a local authority or a private builder, makes a contribution to the housing accommodation of the country.

Will not the right hon. Gentleman inform himself where the houses are being built in relation to the needs of the various localities? Is it not essential for his Department to have this information?

It is not essential for us to impose upon anyone the burden of gathering these additional statistics.

In view of the continued unsatisfactory nature of the right hon. Gentleman's replies, I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter, too, on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what reply he has sent to the communication sent him by the Blyth Borough Council on the economic situation and its effect on the local housing programme; and what assistance he will give towards a solution of their housing problem.

I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the reply which has been sent to the council. I am not clear that it needs special assistance.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is simply not good enough and that quack remedies are no longer a solution to the type of housing problem that the Blyth local authority is facing? Is he further aware that a statement was made some time ago that the housing problem existed only in the larger centres? Last year, in the Borough of Blyth, with over 1,300 people on the waiting list, no new houses were built. Is the Minister aware that if we are to clear this housing list, the Government must turn their back on their traditional housing policies and do something about it very quickly?

My information about the problems of Blyth, which the hon. Member has raised, is that two important problems confronted the local authority: shortage of land due to mining subsidence and the need of a new sewage scheme. Furthermore, by pooling rents and subsidies and applying a differential rent scheme, the local authority could find additional resources.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply. I give notice of my intention to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he is taking to assist local authorities whose housing programmes are restricted by the interest rate charged for loans by the Public Works Loan Board.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what steps he is taking to assist local authorities whose housing programmes are restricted by the interest rate charged for loans from the Public Works Loan Board or from the money market.

The recent Housing Act has improved subsidies for the authorities in greatest financial need. Authorities can further help themselves by making sure that they are charging reasonable rents and using Exchequer subsidy to help only those tenants who genuinely need it.

Is the Minister aware that, in reply to a previous Question, he said that there were only two difficulties facing the Borough of Blythe in its housing programme? Is he further aware that in the borough, a £2,000 house which in 1955 needed £5,040 on loan charges over 60 years, now needs £8,520, an increase of £3,480 and that this represents an increase of the weekly equivalent of £1 2s. 3d? How can the Minister say that our housing problems are being tackled if these are the difficulties that local authorities have to face?

I did not suggest that they were the only two problems, but they are two important problems which confront the local authorities. On the general proposition of the council, that interest rates for housing should be lowered, all I can say is that that would be a breach in the Government's credit policy which they are not prepared to undertake.

Is it not a fact that cities with such terrible housing lists as Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle, far from benefiting under the Housing Act, will suffer a lower subidy? They will enjoy £8 a year instead of £22 a year subsidy. Secondly, is the Minister aware that these restricted programmes plus increased council house rents are causing widespread discontent with local authorities for which the Government are entirely responsible owing to their increased charges? Many of these councils are Labour-controlled and the Government are making them—[HON. MEMBERS: "Speech."] Are not the Government making them the scapegoat for their own sins?

In reply to the first point, this House approved the principle that there should be a differential rate of subsidy between those authorities with the greater resources and those with the smaller resources, and that is an entirely fair principle. In regard to the hon. Member's second point, and, in particular, his reference to rents, I find it difficult to reconcile what he has said with the fact that in his own constituency the rent of a postwar three-bedroom house is 25s. 4d. and of a pre-war three-bedroom house 19s. 11d.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will introduce legislation to prohibit advertisements of houses to let which mention a bar against children.

I do not think that such legislation would help to solve the problem the hon. Member has in mind.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this discrimination against people who commit the crime of having children is nauseating? Is he aware that, while in a free society people must be free to let their houses to whom they please, at least we should not underwrite the practice to which the Question refers but should show our disapproval by making it impossible to advertise the fact?

I have great sympathy with the basis of my hon. Friend's supplementary question but his suggestion is that these words should be forbidden in advertisements. I fear that if they were so forbidden couples might well waste much time answering advertisements only to be told that children would not be allowed. The basic problem is the provision of more houses and not more legislation.

Will the right hon. Gentleman notice that he is now getting from behind him evidence of one of the results of the Rent Act?

I am getting from behind me a sympathetic reference to a problem—a sympathy which I share.

Will my right hon. Friend note that I do not regard this as an outcome of the Rent Act?

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will give his planning consent to the City of London Corporation to release for the immediate building of houses the City Corporation's site of some 20 acres at the disused Caledonian Market that has remained derelict since the war.

I want to see the whole of the Caledonian Market site put to good use as quickly as possible, though there is no outstanding application for planning permission. Proposals for zoning this land for residential and other social uses are before me as part of the London County Council's review of the development plan, and I hope to publish my provisional conclusions early next year. There is, however, nothing to preclude an application being made meanwhile in respect of any particular site. I am ready to consider any application that may be made on its merits.

I am glad to hear that reply, because I gather from it that the right hon. Gentleman realises that it has really been a scandal—[HON. MEMBERS: "Question."] I ask the Minister whether I am right in understanding him to agree that it really is a scandal that, despite the acute shortage of houses in London a site of 20 acres—[HON. MEMBERS: "Question."] Am I right in thinking that the right hon. Gentleman agrees that it really is a scandal that, despite the acute shortage of houses in London, this site of 20 acres should not be utilised for housing? May we take it that he will use his dynamic influence in this matter?

I join with the hon. Gentleman in hoping that this site will be developed as speedily as possible.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the statement that 20 acres are disused is incorrect, and that the City Corporation has itself applied to develop 5 acres, which is the only part open to development at the moment?

The facts my hon. and learned Friend gives me do not entirely coincide with my own, but I will look into the matter.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will introduce legislation as a matter of urgency to give local authorities extended powers to deal with the growing problem of homeless families.

Local authorities already possess adequate powers to deal with this problem, including the power to acquire empty premises by agreement or compulsorily. Accordingly, powers to requisition empty premises are unnecessary. Power to requisition occupied property would be pointless.

May we take it from that reply that the right hon. Gentleman will support any application by any local authority to acquire by requisition any empty property for housing the increasing number of homeless families in London?

I have made it abundantly plain to the London County Council that if compulsory purchase orders are made on empty property, with the purpose which the hon. Gentleman has in mind, I will expedite with all possible speed the consideration of those orders. I should add that over the past six months during which this problem has been causing considerable concern I have had no such applications.

Would not the right hon. Gentleman agree that, however much he expedites consideration of compulsory purchase orders, compulsory purchase is still a slow process—too slow in this emergency—and that it is from that fact that the need for requisitioning powers arises?

The post-war requisitioning powers took on average about six weeks, while compulsory purchase may be assumed to take 12 to 13 weeks. The difference in time between the two procedures is due to the fact that there is a proper right of appeal by the owner against what is proposed.

Questions to the Prime Minister.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I have had Question No. 33 on the Order Paper for early answer for the past four weeks. As the Minister of Housing and Local Government now goes to the bottom of the list, how can I possibly get my Question answered?

I express sympathy with the hon. Gentleman but I cannot deal with it or with a point of order now.