asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will publish the statistics upon which he estimates that the cost per square foot of local authority houses is less by direct labour than by contractor; and what percentage in these figures is added to costs of direct labour construction in order to cover overheads.

In 1965, the average price per square foot of local authority 2-storey 3-bedroom houses built by contractors was about 55s. 7d. compared with 54s. 2½d.—for those built by direct labour. I have no information about the percentage added for overheads either by contractors or direct labour organisations.