asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to amend the Transport Act, 1968, in order to enable British Rail to apply for social grants on railway lines, the passenger service of which was withdrawn prior to the passing of the Transport Act, 1968, thus precluding British Rail from applying for social grants therefor.

No, Sir.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that that is a disappointing answer in view of the more enlightened attitude of the Government towards rail transport? Does he appreciate that in the battle between road and rail there were many, particularly urban, lines for which British Railways would have sought a grant had they been able to do so under the 1968 Act and which they now feel might so qualify? Will my right hon. Friend look sympathetically at any such requests he might receive from British Railways?

It is very much in the interest of British Railways to be given freedom on the closure of passenger services, as was given in 1966, to be able to dispose of their resources for the better use of British Railways.

Is the Secretary of State aware that his right hon. Friend the Minister for Transport Industries is considered in my area to be a most arrogant Minister who has refused to meet local government officials and councillors to discuss the social grant, although this issue is vitally important to the people of the area? Will he have a word with his right hon. Friend about this query?

I am not aware of that. I have always found my right hon. Friend courteous and not in the slightest degree arrogant. I remind the hon. Gentleman that it was my right hon. Friend who brought in proposals which provide the most generous capital to British Railways in their history.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now designate 1973 as a national tree planting year, following discussions and correspondence between his Department and the hon. Member for Birmingham, Handsworth.

My Department has had discussions with the local authority associations and has decided to proceed with a tree planting year in 1973. We will now have consultations with the horticultural trade and the voluntary amenity bodies.

I am establishing a committee under the chairmanship of a Minister from my Department to organise a nation-wide campaign in which I hope local authorities, industry, amenity organisations, youth organisations and schools will take part.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the wide welcome his answer will receive from a great section of the public? May I congratulate him on this decision? Does he agree that the whole purpose of this plan is to invite the voluntary donation of trees from all sections of the community to be planted where they are most needed, in our towns and cities?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for those remarks. The grant is already available to improvement areas and it has enabled many areas of urban cities to be improved in this way. I hope, however, that the campaign will mean a substantial extension of these activities.

Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied with the present legislation governing the preservation of trees?

A great deal more activity is now taking place under legislation in this sphere, but I am always willing to heed any suggestions that the hon. Gentleman might care to put to me on this topic.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what further improvements are planned for the A1 road in inner London for which the Greater London Council has applied for grant aid, and what are the detailed plans.

None, Sir.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if in his review of the law of compensation, he will consider legislation to safeguard the interests of purchasers of new houses against estate developers who erect unsightly buildings and neglect to fulfil undertakings given on the landscaping of estates.

No, Sir. Local planning authorities already possess powers to control the erection of unsightly buildings and to require by planning conditions that landscaping be carried out.

Is the Minister aware that the deft developer who is well aware of the planning regulations can, by prevarication, impede the work of county planning authorities, thereby causing ex- cessive misery to many people, basically because of the inadequacy of the existing legislation? This difficulty is faced by both county planning authorities and new house purchasers.

I believe that local authorities have adequate powers in this matter, but if the hon. Gentleman will let me have the details of any specific cases I will look at them sympathetically.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in his review of the law of compensation, he will consider legislation to oblige developers of new housing estates financially to compensate residents who suffer inconvenience arising from continuing development.

No, Sir. I am not aware of any need to introduce legislation along these lines.

Is the Minister aware, following my supplementary question on Question No. 33, that new house purchasers are the victims of profiteering house developers who are completely insulated from any representations that new purchasers may undertake? Is he aware that it would concentrate the minds of those developers on their responsibilities to purchasers if the law said that they must compensate them financially in the way suggested in the Question? The present situation is a scandal, as the hon. Gentleman must know from the cases that have arisen in his constituency.

I certainly have had no representations from my constituents. But the law, as I understand it, enables local authorities to lay down conditions, and I certainly would not accept that we should do anything but praise the people who are now building new houses on such an unprecedented scale for those who need them so urgently.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what further discussions have taken place between his Department and local authorities aimed at securing land in outer London to relieve housing pressure in inner London; and what progress has been recorded.

My Department is in continuous touch with all London boroughs about their housing programmes. The Action Group on London Housing has initiated a survey of all London boroughs to identify potential housing sites and to indicate when and by whom they might be developed. Preliminary results of this survey are now being received.

Is it not rather odd that the Minister for Housing and Construction is prepared, in effect, to send a gunboat to deal with those local authorities which do not want to make a profit out of their council house tenants while on the vital question of land shortage in inner London he is not prepared to use more than a feather duster on his Tory friends in the London boroughs which have the necessary sites? When will we get action?

I accept neither of the implications of the hon. Member's remarks. I need not go into the merits of the Housing Finance Bill this afternoon, but on the question of land in London I am sure the hon. Member will be pleased to know that I have every reason to expect local authority and private approvals this year to be better than last year.

Would my hon. Friend agree that some progress might be made by the inner London boroughs if they decided to co-operate in the rehabilitation schemes and not say bluntly that they are not prepared to co-operate, like the London Borough of Camden?

I hope all London boroughs will co-operate with the improvement campaign which is shortly to be held and which will be the largest in any city in the world. It can make an enormous difference to the condition of many sub-standard houses in London.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what new policy moves he will initiate to check the rise in the price of new private houses.

The best hope for an easier market lies in increasing the sup- ply of houses for sale. In 1971 completions in the private sector were nearly 13 per cent. up and starts about 26 per cent. up on 1970.

There is every reason to hope for continuation of this rising trend.

Will the Minister make it clear to his right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction that he is a calamity and a catastrophe, at least for Cupid? Young couples are being completely priced out of the market for new houses. The forecast was made this week of the £20,000 semi-detached house, which does not seem far off now that prices are rising at about 20 per cent. a year under the present Government. Again, when are we to get action and when will the Government accept their responsibility in the matter, or do they still say that competition will deal with this?

The hon. Member is talking sheer nonsense. Private sector starts and completions are both on a rising trend and I hope to have the hon. Member's support for more private houses in London as well as elsewhere.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will erect temporary noise barriers on motorways at places where noise pollution is worst, pending the result of his study of forms of noise barriers.

Research on noise barriers is being actively pursued and I am anxious not to take precipitate action which might not be in the best long-term interests of the community, taking account of all environmental factors, including the adverse effects of visual instrusion. The Urban Motorways Committee is now considering the whole question of the interaction between motorways and the urban environment and I expect it will be advising me on the problem of noise as well as other factors.

Is my hon. Friend aware of the urgency of the matter, particularly on Ml, where there is now continuous traffic roar which causes disturbance several hundred yards downwind?

I am aware of the urgency of the matter.