To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on the meeting of EEC Housing Ministers held in Lille in December.

The meeting was arranged by the French Government with a view to establishing direct links between Housing Ministers from the EC member states. Almost all member states were represented, most at ministerial level, and discussions were cordial and productive. At the conclusion of the meeting it was unanimously agreed that similar meetings should be arranged annually, by the country holding the EC presidency for the second half-year, and that national Administrations should make the necessary arrangements to prepare for them.