asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware of the decision to build a garage in the vicinity of Trent Avenue, Huyton, within Liverpool but adjacent to Huyton-with-Roby, to the detriment of local amenities; and if he will use his powers under Section 14 (3) of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, or otherwise, to provide that local planning authorities, before granting permission to develop land shall consult in appropriate cases with neighbouring local authorities and/or with persons whose amenities are likely to be prejudiced.

Planning permission for the erection of the garage has been granted by the Liverpool City Council. In reply to the second part of the Question, Article 9 of the General Development Order requires a local planning authority to consult a neighbouring local planning authority before granting permission for development if it appears to them likely to affect land in the area of the neighbouring authority.

As that procedure has not been followed in this case, will the right hon. Gentleman once again draw the attention of local authorities to the need to consult neighbouring local authorities in these boundary cases? Secondly, would he consider, as a more long-term proposition, whether it is not desirable, when building of this kind affects local amenities, that those whose amenities will be affected might have the right to be heard before a decision is reached?

With regard to the first part of that question, I am quite sure that the Liverpool City Council was not unaware of the provisions of Article 9, but it decided not to act in that sense. I have no reason to think that the local planning authorities are not perfectly well aware of their duties under the Article, though the interpretation might not be absolutely uniform. The second part of the right hon. Gentleman's question raises further considerations.

Was the Huyton-with-Roby Council consulted by the Liverpool Corporation in this case? If not, why not?

No, Sir. The Liverpool City Council, which, after all, is an autonomous authority in these matters, decided that it was not incumbent upon it to do so.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will now grant loan sanction for the scheme to provide public conveniences in Hassell Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme, for which the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council re-applied in the Town Clerk's letter to his Department of 7th February.

My right hon. Friend's Department has suggested certain modifications to the borough council. If these are acceptable, he will be able to give loan sanction as soon as planning permission has been obtained.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that these apparently second thoughts may give some satisfaction to my constituents, especially unemployed building workers, as well as some general relief to my constituents?

It is not a matter of second thoughts. Conversations have been going on between the Ministry and the local authority, and agreement has now been provisionally reached.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that, as the scheme was first turned down, I am expressing pleasure that the Department is now having second thoughts and has approved a modified scheme?

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware of the financial hardship suffered by citizens who have no responsibility for the private and unmade character of the streets in which they live but who, under existing law, are forced to pay large bills for their frontage share of the cost of repairing such streets; and if he will initiate inquiries with a view to considering the desirability of amending the law so as to provide alternative methods of relieving such citizens of a part or the whole of this burden.

I am not satisfied, on the information before me, that the present law regarding liability for private street works is unreasonable. I am, however, making inquiries to see what use is made of the provisions for the avoidance of hardship which already exist, and I will consider the matter further in the light of this information.

Would the Minister consider setting up a committee of inquiry on this subject? Is he aware that the law on this subject is more than sixty years old and that many local authority experts regard it as obsolete and an obstacle to getting these roads made up? Will he, therefore, have investigations made into the whole position?

Perhaps the hon. Member will agree that in the first place I should make further inquiries into the extent to which local authorities are using their existing power.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) if he will call for a return from all local authorities showing how many miles of unadopted streets there are in England and how many have been in existence 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 years or more, respectively; and if he will publish the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT;

My right hon. Friend does not feel justified in asking local authorities to undertake the work which would be involved in supplying this information.

Will not the Minister reconsider this matter? There are literally hundreds of miles of unadopted streets and thousands of miles of unadopted roads. Parish councils throughout my constituency are very concerned about these roads in the countryside. Will the hon. Gentleman look into the question again?

It is perfectly true that there is a very considerable amount of work remaining to be done in this respect, but at the moment we can see no good purpose being served by asking for this information. I think we know the size of the problem, and we shall certainly bear the suggestion of the hon. Member in mind.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many schemes of town development have been approved since 28th March, 1956.

Approval has been given under Section 4 of the Town Development Act, 1952, to fifteen schemes which involve the payment of contributions by an exporting authority to a receiving district.

Does the Minister realise that the Housing Subsidies Act has had the effect of forcing over-crowded local authorities to depend on these town development schemes for relief, and in view of the very small number of schemes which have been approved—with the great delays there are in approving schemes which have been under consideration for a long time—will he not look again into the whole question of town development grants, and particularly into increasing the Exchequer contribution to these schemes?

I can assure the hon. Lady that my right hon. Friend has this general question of overspill constantly under review, but I would repeat, if I may, that these fifteen schemes have been approved in the period since March, 1956, and, in fact, quite a considerable number of houses are being built in various parts of the country under those schemes.

To deal, once again, more with the particular than the general for a moment, may I ask whether the Minister will agree that Manchester's overspill problem is one which is awaiting the decision of the Cabinet; and as that decision has been awaited now for many years, will he take steps to bring to the notice of the Prime Minister the extreme dissatisfaction felt by all sections of the community in Manchester at this very unreasonable delay?

Much as I should like to add to what my right hon. Friend has said, I am afraid that that does not arise out of this Question.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware that the owners of No. 1, Devonshire Terrace, W. 1, have now given two months' notice of their intention to demolish the property; and if he will now take urgent steps to preserve this house, in which Charles Dickens wrote "David Copperfield".

The answer to the first part of the Question is "Yes". My right hon. Friend is in touch with the London County Council, as the local planning authority, but it is too early to say what steps, if any, will be taken to preserve this house.

Would not the Parliamentary Secretary agree that, quite apart from its outstanding historic interest, this is the type of pleasant London house of which we have lost far too many in the last twenty or thirty years? Will he and his right hon. Friend bear this consideration in mind before approving a plan to pull down this house and put up a block of offices in its place?

Yes, my right hon. Friend will certainly have regard to that consideration, but as the hon. Gentleman knows, this is a matter, in the first instance, for the London County Council, which can, if it so wishes, make a preservation order. In the meantime, we are discussing the matter with the Committee on buildings of special historic interest.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware that rural district authorities are dissatisfied by the interpretation he has given to Circular 30/55 of 14th April, 1955, whereby payment of periodic grants under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act, 1955, are started only when final settlement with the contractors is concluded, not at completion of contract or scheme; and whether, in view of the financial difficulty this is causing to a number of such authorities, he will agree that, in future, such payments shall begin on the physical completion of the scheme.

My right hon. Friend is not aware of any general complaint about this. He is always willing to make a payment on account at a date earlier than that of final settlement with the contractor, and indeed earlier than the completion of the work, if an authority can show that an undue burden would otherwise fall on their rates.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that in every case eighteen months and sometimes more elapse between the completion of the scheme and the conclusion of a contract, and that that has already caused a certain amount of hardship to small local authorities? Will he, even at the cost of some administrative inconvenience to his Department, have another look at the matter to see whether it cannot be made a general rule to pay on completion of the scheme?

As I have said, we are perfectly willing to make payments on account earlier than the final settlement with the contractors on their completion of the work. We are perfectly ready to look as this question.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if, in exercise of his powers under Section 5 of the Water Act, 1945, he will require the Gloucester Corporation to formulate proposals for a supply of piped water to the south-western area of the Upton rural district.

Proposals for supplying the area concerned have been formulated by the Upton on Severn Rural District Council, which is the responsible water-undertaker. These proposals are, however, dependent on a bulk supply from Gloucester City Corporation and on arrangements for supplying part of Newent Rural District. I understand that financial negotiations between the three authorities are likely to be completed shortly.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he has taken to appoint the Clean Air Council in accordance with the provisions of the Clean Air Act, 1956.

Arrangements for the appointment of the Clean Air Council are in train, and I hope to be able to announce its composition before long.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when he proposes to give a decision on access to open country in the West Riding of Yorkshire following the local inquiry on 26th October, 1955.

My right hon. Friend hopes to do so shortly. He regrets the delay, which has been due partly to the ill-health of the inspector since the inquiry, and partly to the very complicated nature of the case.

Does the Minister realise that we have been waiting for as long as eighteen months for this decision and in fact what is being asked for is general access to this stretch of very fine moorland rather than a limited number of rights of way?

I appreciate that. A decision will be issued very soon.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is aware that in Stoke-on-Trent the building programme of the local authority has been adversely affected; and whether he will take action which will offset the harmful effects of high interest rates.

I am aware that the council has fewer houses under construction at the present time than it had a year ago. This is its decision. I have no reason to suppose that financially it is debarred from building whatever houses it needs to build.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that is a very unsatisfactory Answer—[An HON. MEMBER: "It is not true."]—that, in fact, the number of houses at present under construction is only half what it was a year ago, while next season's programme will be half of that again, that there are 8 million bricks lying in stock and that unemployment is rising in every aspect of this industry? Is not the Minister ashamed of himself?

I cannot accept the hon. Gentleman's statement that the number of houses under construction is only half what it was a year ago. If the local authority feels that it is financially pressed, surely its first course should be to review its existing rents, which are far below the average of other comparable places.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that not only in Stoke but in the vast majority of local authority areas practically no building for general needs is now proceeding, and that the reasons for that are the unduly high interest rates and the withdrawal of subsidies, which make rents impossible for people to pay?

No, Sir. I do not accept for a moment that there is no building for general needs going on.

Where is it?

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he is under-estimating the whole position? Are not many local authorities in the position that the only house building will be for slum clearance, which is a burden on them, and are they not facing the position that they cannot build houses for general needs? We have to say to people on the housing lists, "No houses for you until the situation changes." What are we to do about it?

What the hon. Lady is pressing for is restoration of the general needs subsidy. I am not prepared to impose obligations on the taxpayers in order to enable local authorities who are charging low rents to continue to do so.

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter on the Adjournment at the earliest possible moment.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will state the total cost of the housing programme for the past five years, and the interest cost thereof over sixty years; and if he will give an estimate of the cost if interest were limited to a thirty-year period.

It is not possible to calculate this.

I expected that reply. It is of such momentous interest to the country that we shall never know about it. Is the Minister aware that this is the first time in the history of the Housing Acts that an interest rate of 5½ cent. has been passed on to local authorities, and that the only other occasion on which the interest rate was 5½ per cent. was under the Addison Act, when local authorities were themselves allowed to levy a penny rate and in Scotland a five-sixths of a penny rate only? Will he do something to stop this concealed subsidy which is going to interest all the time?

I tried to answer the hon. Lady's Question, and I must assure her that I was not able to frame an answer, because loans are raised in different conditions over different periods. It was impossible to give her any firm estimate. If she is asking for a restoration of the general needs subsidy, then in respect of England and Wales—and I can speak only for England and Wales—I certainly could not agree to that.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what representations he has received from local authorities since the beginning of this year about the effects of high interest rates and the withdrawal of subsidies on local authority housing programmes; and what reply he has made to these representations.

Since the beginning of this year, representations have been received from 97 out of 1,468 local authorities. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the reply sent to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

Is the Minister aware that those 97 authorities will very soon be followed by a great many more? Does he know that progressive local authorities are now prevented from building homes at reasonable rents, with the result that there is rising unemployment in the building trade? Will he consult progressive local authorities and reverse his policy?

No, Sir, I cannot help noticing that the rents charged by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council are below the average of those charged by non-county boroughs generally.

In his reply, is not the right hon. Gentleman evading the point inasmuch as a resolution was passed by the National Conference of the Urban District Councils Association condemning his predecessor, asking for the withdrawal of the Housing Subsidies Bill, and asking the Ministry to receive a deputation? That Association represents 600 local authorities.

I think that my predecessor and the House of Commons were entirely right in reaching this decision about housing subsidies.

Is the right hon. Gentleman telling my constituents that their rents are unreasonably low? Has he studied wage levels in north Staffordshire and having studied them, is he still saying that rents are unreasonably low?

What I am saying is that any local authority in financial difficulties over its housing account should first consider whether it can reasonably increase rents—to some of its tenants who can afford to pay, if not to all—before making a further claim on the national taxpayer.

How does the right hon. Gentleman reconcile the answers which he has given to these questions and those asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Dr. Stross) with the declared policy of the Government of assisting housing? Is it not quite clear from his answers that the withdrawal of the general needs subsidies was intended to bring pressure upon local authorities to raise their rents on the basis that they were not entitled to any assistance unless they did so?

Housing by local authorities is still going on at a high level. I very much hope that the action taken last year will lead local authorities to concentrate more and more on the slum clearance problem.

Has the right hon. Gentleman considered the relation between rising rents and wage claims?

That is a large question.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether, in view of the great number of rating cases coming before the local valuation courts, preventing full consideration being given to all these cases, he will take powers to increase the number, or limit the area, of local valuation courts.

Those are matters within the discretion of chairman of local valuation panels, and my right hon. Friend sees no reason to seek power to interfere. There is nothing to prevent full consideration of each appeal.

Is my hon. Friend aware that in south-west Middlesex valuation courts are overloaded and some 20 cases are heard at a time in a rather slipshod fashion? Is it not possible to increase the number of courts in that area or alternatively to appoint some qualified people who will know what they are doing in adjudicating on these valuation cases?

It is at the discretion of the chairman of the panel to decide how often courts are called. As to the qualification of the members of the courts, I think it has always been the view of this House that those courts should not consist entirely of legal gentlemen, but also of people who have a knowledge of the district. My right hon. Friend is aware of the difficulties in the area of Middlesex to which my hon. Friend has referred, but I believe that there there are appeals to the Lands Tribunal.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that it is estimated that in Manchester it will take between five and seven years to clear arrears of work on this valuation and in the meantime about £500,000 a year is being lost on local rateable value?

It is quite true, as the hon. Member for Openshaw (Mr. W. R. Williams) has said, that there are a considerable number of appeals outstanding in Manchester. Anything we can do to expedite matters we shall do.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government his estimate of the number of houses now standing empty which will become available for letting when the Rent Bill now going through the House becomes law.

I cannot possibly make such an estimate; the Bill will, plainly, increase the willingness of landlords to let.

The right hon. Gentleman says that he cannot make such an estimate, but during the debate on the Rent Bill (Allocation of Time) Motion he said that there were thousands of such houses. I will quote his words; the right hon. Gentleman said:

"at this moment there are thousands of houses which are likely to stand empty longer than they really need. …"

"when the Bill becomes law these empty houses will be let and more accommodation will be released."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 4th February, 1957; Vol. 564, c. 165.]

Of course there are thousands, many thousands,—[An HON. MEMBER: "How does the Minister know?"]—but I am not prepared to make any accurate estimate. What we do know is that under the existing law there will be houses falling vacant. We know that at present landlords generally seek to sell those houses, and the Bill will make this drastic and salutary change, that in future they will be available for letting.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what was the number of applicants on the housing lists of local authorities in England and Wales on 31st December, 1956.

These figures are not available. Even if they were, they would not be reliable as an index of housing need.

When the right hon. Gentleman says that these figures are not available, does he not realise that what he means is that he has not taken the trouble to obtain them? All he need have done was to have consulted the local authorities. Does he not realise that the figure runs into hundreds of thousands? Does he appreciate what that means in human anxiety and worry? Will he do something to give those people some hope by restoring the subsidy and reducing interest rates, thus making it possible for local authorities again to build for general needs?

Having been a member of two local authorities for many years, I am well aware that those on the housing lists vary from those in urgent need of homes to those who are reasonably housed, but simply feel that they would like a new council house or flat.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in the country districts in particular it is quite normal for people to put down their names on more than one housing list?

Has the right hon. Gentleman, in his capacity of Minister of Housing, made any estimate of the extent of housing need in the country? If so, what does he make it and what is it?

What I am doing at the moment is replying to the Question on the Order Paper. I am reminded of the Answer which the right hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Bevan) gave to a similar Question when he was Minister of Health. On that occasion he said that any such figure would be valueless.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what consideration was given to the problem of living space for gipsies during his discussions with the local authority associations in November, 1956; and what action is to be taken to protect their interests, in view of the increasing difficulty of finding lawful camping sites.

At these discussions no information emerged to suggest that there is a problem here requiring a general investigation, though local difficulties may arise from time to time. If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind, I hope he will let me have details.

When will the Government obtain their own information to show that the hounding of gipsies must stop—and stop soon? Is he not aware that it cannot be solved by local authorities, who are subject to local pressure? Will he not study what has happened in other European countries, where the Governments have solved this minority problem with great credit? Is he aware that last week I saw gipsies who have paid more in fines than they would have to pay for proper camping grounds, if they were available?

When the hon. Member speaks of gipsies, I do not know whether he has in mind Romanies or didikais and the rest.

I said gipsies, not didikais.

As the hon. Member knows, there are different categories. If he is aware of particular local difficulties, I shall be most grateful if he will bring them to my attention. I know that some time ago he brought to my attention a report of the manner in which Slovak gipsies were being integrated into normal Czechoslovak life, but I do not think that that sort of inquiry has great value in this country.

Is the Minister aware that these people have been harassed, prosecuted and persecuted by a large number of local authorities throughout the country? By the Answer which he has given he has proved that there is a problem for these people. Will not he examine the position again with a view to finding a solution to it?

I will most willingly look into any local case of difficulty which is sent to me.

On a point of order. Owing to the unsatisfactory nature of the Answer, I give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment and give notice to the next Labour Government that this problem must be solved.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is aware that advertisements in provincial newspapers reveal offers being made for furniture and fittings, in order to obtain tenancies of rented houses; and as it is an offence to accept such offers, but not an offence to make them, if he will amend the Housing Acts to make the giver as well as receiver equally guilty of an offence.

It is not an offence to accept a reasonable price for furniture, fittings or fixtures; it becomes an offence only if the price asked is unreasonable and therefore amounts to a premium—and, of course, if the tenancy is controlled. Advertisements of the kind referred to could not therefore be declared illegal.

Is the Minister aware that advertisements such as these show that the advertiser is asking for a house to rent and offering a premium for furniture and fittings which he or she has never seen? How can the premium be related to the value of the furniture? Is it not about time that this racket was stopped? Does it not indicate that in legislation which is going through the House at the moment the position should be tightened up, far he who offers is just as offensive as he who accepts—

Order. The hon. Lady has other Questions on the Order Paper.

The hon. Lady knows, as the House knows, that I am extremely anxious that legislation against premiums and unreasonable charges for fixtures and fittings should be watertight, but if she will think about it I am sure she will recognise that legislation against advertisements of this kind would not be sensible or practicable.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government the average cost of a council house today; what would be the cost of interest spread over sixty years; and what would be the cost of interest over a thirty-year period.

In the second quarter of 1956, the latest period for which figures are readily available, the average tender cost of a council house was £1,464. To service a loan for this amount bearing interest at 5½ per cent. the annual repayments would be £83 15s. 0d. a year if the cost were spread over sixty years, or £100 3s. 11d. if it were spread over thirty years. The total interest payment over sixty years would be £3,561 and over thirty years £1,542.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that building societies give their applicants a choice between thirty and sixty years? Does he not think that this amount is an unconscionable one for ratepayers and taxpayers to pay in a burden of interest spread over sixty years?

A local authority has certain discretion as to the period over which it raises a loan. If it chooses to raise a loan and amortise it over a shorter period, then the rents which it will have to charge will be proportionately higher.

Is it not a fact that if the Chancellor and some authorities in the country want to make an economy in public expenditure, then cutting down interest rates and the period of interest repayment is one of the best ways to achieve that? Will the Minister see the Chancellor with a view to discussing the possibility of this for the forthcoming Budget?

Questions relating to the general rate of interest should be addressed to the Chancellor. I am not prepared to create a concealed subsidy by enabling local authorities to obtain money at artificially low rates of interest.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what was the all-in cost of a local authority two-bedroomed house built in 1951, and what is the similar figure for 1955; how much of this cost was represented by charges for interest on capital in 1951 and 1955; and what proportion of the rent charged was accountable to interest charges in each case in those years

Since the Answer contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Surely the Minister could give us in abbreviated form the information asked for in the Question. Can he tell me, for instance, what is the increase in the amount of interest charge between 1951 and 1955?

I have answered the Question as fully as I can, with a number of figures. If the hon. Gentleman will read HANSARD tomorrow, he may then perhaps wish to put down a further Question.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will exempt education from the proposed new system of block grants to local authorities.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. G. Thomas) on 19th February.

Is the Minister aware that the Minister of Education is wisely and eloquently urging the need for greater expenditure on education, and that educationists of all political parties in local government are very alarmed at the fact that the proposed block grant will either mean new heavy financial burdens on local education committees—[HON. MEMBERS: "Why?"]—or else cause some local education committees to neglect the duties which the Minister of Education imposes upon them? Will the Minister consult the Minister of Education before he puts the clock back in education?

At the moment I am doing what I should have thought the hon. Member would wish: I am consulting the local authorities themselves.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many cases were submitted to rent tribunals for decision in respect of the rents charged for furnished lettings and for dwelling-houses first let after 1939, respectively, in respect of which the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest Restrictions Act, 1939, applied; and in how many cases in each of these classes was the rent reduced by the tribunal.

As the Answer contains a number of figures I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that there are large numbers of such cases, and that the rents which are allowed must, according to the Act, be reasonable rents in all the circumstances? If there are these large numbers of cases submitted at present, why is he introducing legislation in order entirely to do away with control of furnished dwellings?

I think that that is a matter which the hon. Member might raise on the Third Reading of the Rent Bill.

I do not know about that—it is urgent.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will make a statement on the meeting held on 22nd February between himself and the representatives of the Manchester Corporation to discuss the problem of overspill.

I have nothing at present to add to the reply which I gave to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Withington (Sir R. Cary) on 5th March.

Is the Minister aware that for five years his predecessors have been coming to this House promising an early decision, and using such words as "shortly" and "soon"? Is it not the fact that in a recent Adjournment debate the right hon. Gentleman sought to convey to hon. Members, including myself, that the reason for his not giving the House of Commons a reply to the debate was that he was to meet a deputation from the Manchester Corporation, and was to announce his views to that deputation? Now we are told that he is still considering the matter. Therefore, has he not deceived both the Manchester City Corporation and the House of Commons?

I was extremely anxious to have the opportunity of meeting the deputation from the Manchester City Council, so that its members could put their case to me at first hand. If it were true that my predecessors had been promising a decision for the past five years—which is really an exaggeration—think that I, as a new Minister, ought to be allowed a fortnight.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that Manchester's building programme is really cut in half because we have inadequate sites, and the city itself is so surrounded that we must get a decision soon?

I can assure my hon. Friend that the all-party deputation from the city council put the case for the Manchester Corporation's claim very cogently, and I am now considering this extremely difficult problem.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that not only has Manchester not enough room to build but neither has London, nor, I venture to say, has practically every large industrial town in the country? What does he intend to do about it by way of fostering new towns and overspill?

The Question relates to Manchester.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many local authority housing schemes for the relief of overspill, outside the Town Development Act, have been approved since 28th March, 1956; and how many such schemes have been abandoned or postponed since that date.

Local authorities do not need my right hon. Friend's approval to carry out such schemes. I regret that the information asked for is not available.

Is the Minister aware that Wood Green Council has had to abandon a scheme for building a hundred houses at Letchworth because the withdrawal of the subsidy would have made the rents nearly £4 a week? In view of the difficulties of town development and schemes of that kind, and of the fact that the new towns are scarcely taking people from the waiting lists of local authorities, is it not quite wrong for the Minister to say, as he does in his Report, that he is using housing subsidies for the relief of overspill?

I think that my right hon. Friend has already dealt with the general question of subsidies and interest rates. He is aware, of course, that the Wood Green Council has abandoned the scheme which it had in contemplation at, I think, Letchworth, but I do repeat that this whole matter of overspill is constantly under review.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will make a regulation in accordance with Section 14B of the Rent Restrictions Amendment Act, 1933, whereby, amongst the particulars included in the rent book, the landlord shall insert the rateable value of the hereditament, or, if the dwelling is part of a hereditament, then an apportionment of the rateable value.

I intend to consider this, together with other information, for prescription in rent books when the Rent Bill becomes law.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will introduce legislation to ensure that moneys received by a landlord from the War Damage Commission and spent by him on repairs to property shall not entitle him to increase tenants' rents under the Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954.

This is already prevented by paragraph 8 (b) of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1954.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government, in view of the fact that sites in the Athol Street, Barncourt Street and Boundary Street areas in Liverpool have been lying idle for over ten years, if he will as soon as possible authorise the Liverpool housing authority to build houses there.

Liverpool Corporation has submitted to my right hon. Friend a proposal for using part of this area for housing, although its Development Plan proposed that it should be used for industry. He was awaiting further details, which have just been received, and he will announce his decision as quickly as possible.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that this place is lying desolate, and has been for the last ten years? We are just about fed up with the whole situation. We have lost 12,000 to 14,000 people from that area, and the shopkeepers do not know what to do about their businesses. Newsham Hospital, and the adjoining premises which were the workhouse, are now occupied by 86 families. When I went in there three months ago I found a woman with six children, who had been displaced from her home twelve months earlier, living in a workhouse. Are those conditions that we ought to have in the City of Liverpool——

I think that that is about enough for one question.

Our people are living under damnable conditions, and I must express my feelings——

Order.

rose—

Order. This is not the time to make a speech——

May I finish my supplementary question?

The hon. Member must take just as big a ration as others, not more. Mr. Bevins.

Can I not express opinions here——

Order. Mr. Bevins.

I want to get the Minister to listen——

Order. Mr. Bevins.

I know the district to which the hon. Gentleman refers, although I do not know the details as well as he does——

The hon. Gentleman should come to live where I do.

but I think that in fairness to my right hon. Friend I ought to reiterate that this particular area was zoned in the Liverpool Development Plan for industry and not for housing. In the second place, it was as recently as 11th March that my right hon. Friend received these details——

What I want to know is——

Order.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I want to know whether the Minister will say——

Order. That is not a point of order.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he proposes to take to ease the burden of interest charges on capital for local authority housing schemes in order to encourage them to build larger numbers of houses to accommodate applicants on their waiting lists.

Given proper use of local resources, the provision made by the Housing Subsidies Act, 1956, is adequate to enable local authorities to build the houses they need to build.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that Answer is all nonsense, and that in fact all the housing authorities are building fewer houses now for cases on their general lists than they were building four or five years ago? Is he aware that the main difficulty is shown by all their reports to be the tremendous increase in the cost of interest, details of which he has avoided giving us here today by putting the Answer in HANSARD for tomorrow? Further, is it not a fact that such an authority as the London County Council, which is still building a fair number of houses but less than half of what it was building eight or nine years ago, is finding it impossible to house from the housing list—[HON. MEMBERS: "Speech."]—I am sorry, but hon. Members are going to have it—that the London County Council is finding it impossible to house from its general housing list more than 2,000 families in the next three years? Is not that a scandal and disgrace?

According to the returns received by my Department, local authorities are continuing to build and to plan to build at a high rate. What we have done is to reorganise the subsidy system so as to give local authorities an incentive to concentrate on slum clearance, which is the most urgent need of all.

Does the right hon. Gentleman not know that housing authorities cannot, without housing subsidies, carry out their duty of providing houses at the present rates of interest, or is he quite blind to what is happening?

I know that a number of housing authorities which are complaining about the abolition of the general need subsidy are in fact fixing rents which subsidise large numbers of tenants at rates higher than are really needed.

In view of the Answers which he has given earlier today, may I ask the Minister whether it really is beyond the wit of the Government to devise a means whereby posterity will not have to continue to pay these ridiculously high rates of interest based on a 5½ per cent. Bank Rate? Is it not really preposterous to have total interest charges amounting to the kind of figures which he has already given at the Box this afternoon?

The right hon. Gentleman may not be aware that local authorities have, within the last couple of years, been given freedom to borrow for a period shorter than 60 years for housing purposes, if they think fit.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if his Department will make inquiries on a national basis in order to ascertain approximately the number of persons other than gipsies or similar itinerants who are living permanently in caravans or similar accommodation.

No. Sir.

In view of the fact that large numbers of people living in caravans not from choice but of necessity desire to get into more adequate accommodation, does the hon. Gentleman not consider that it would be advantageous, in order to secure a fair overall picture, to make some inquiry as to the estimated number of people living in those dwellings?

My right hon. Friend knows the broad picture fairly well, but I would add that we are in consultation with both the local authorities and the caravan interests on this subject, and we know that there is a good deal of feeling about it on both sides of the House.

Would my hon. Friend bear in mind that there are some people in the country who actually like living in caravans, and that unfortunately some local authorities seem to regard such people as people to be crushed out of existence?

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government on how many occasions the rents of houses in Peterlee have been raised; and what has been the amount of the increases since the new town was started.

Until early in 1955, the rents of these houses were subject to the control of the Rent Acts, and could not be raised above the level at which the houses were first let. Since then, rents have been raised once—in March, 1956. The increases ranged from 6d. to 4s. 6d. weekly.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the rents in this new town of Peterlee are far in excess of rents paid by tenants of adjoining council houses, and that the majority of people who live in Peterlee are working-class people who find this burden far too heavy for them to bear? Will he do something about it?

The corporation needs to balance its housing account, and so long as it carries out that policy, the actual fixing of rents is surely a matter for the corporation rather than for me.

Would the Minister say why working-class tenants in a new town should be called upon to pay what is called an economic rent, without any subsidy whatever, as compared with tenants in houses which are constructed by local councils?

If the right hon. Gentleman is urging me to agree to increased subsidies for new towns. I must reply that I cannot do so.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what information he has to show the number of instances where adjacent local authorities now have joint housing lists, as in Essex, to meet certain categories of applicants; and to what extent this is being effective.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of 22nd January. I may add, however, that local authorities are under no obligation to inform me when they enter into any such arrangements.

Of course, one is aware of that fact, but cannot the Minister please try to get as much information on this interesting development as possible, particularly in view of the fact that he did commend the scheme, initiated, I believe, by the East Ham authority? Ought he not to try and follow it up and recommend it?

There was a recommendation in the valuable Report of the Central Housing Advisory Committee not so very long ago. I am not anxious to be constantly asking local authorities to give me further information, but I imagine that the hon. Gentleman's Question will once again draw this scheme to the attention of local authorities which might make further use of it.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what estimate has been made of the number of persons in Essex who are now living in temporary accommodation or half-way houses provided by local authorities owing to eviction or other causes; and what consultations his Department has had with those local authorities in respect of co-ordinating that aspect of the housing problem.

This is a Question affecting my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health as well as myself. I have consulted him, and the latest figures show 274 persons temporarily in accommodation in county premises, and 383 persons in half-way houses set up by housing authorities in Essex. Consultations with the local authorities have not taken place.

Could not the Minister initiate conversations or consultations, in view of the fact that these 270-odd families are living in deplorable conditions, and could not something be done to provide better accommodation than anything which they have now?

So far as the 274 persons are concerned, perhaps the hon. Gentleman would put questions to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health, who is the Minister responsible. The number of people in half-way houses shows a very considerable reduction compared with a year ago.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many prosecutions have been brought to the last convenient date for contravention of the law relating to key money and disguised premiums.

Prosecutions are undertaken by individual local or police authorities, who do not inform me of the number undertaken.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the continuing frustration that there is to desperate members of the public over this question of disguised key money? Is he also aware that every newspaper every day carries advertisements to this effect and that I have one in front of me asking £1,000 or near offer for furniture and fittings? Surely this is a matter of public interest about which he should take more definite action.

I have already told the House this afternoon that I am extremely anxious that the law on this subject should be watertight but it really cannot be made illegal for someone to offer in an advertisement furniture and fittings because if the amount asked is not higher than the value of the furniture and fittings no offence is created.

Is this not a quite unrealistic and nonsensical answer? Does not the Minister know that people are so desperate for housing accommodation that if they can scrape this money together they are not going to question the propriety or the legality of what is done? Surely this is nothing but exploitation of a desperate need about which he should do something.

The hon. Lady is not giving evidence of exploitation. If the law is broken then it is possible to prosecute.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will arrange for the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to assist the Ministers concerned in co-ordinating the information to be presented to the British Medical Association for the purpose of clarifying Her Majesty's Government's policy on salaries in the Health Services.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will now make a statement on an interim adjustment of the remuneration of general medical practitioners.

asked the Prime Minister if he is now able to announce the names of the members of the Royal Commission on doctors' and dentists' pay.

asked the Prime Minister if he will now state the names of the Royal Commission on doctors' remuneration.

I will, with permission, answer these Questions at the end of Question Time.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will recommend the appointment of a Royal Commission to review and inquire into the question of Government patronage of the arts, including the present grants to the Arts Council, museums, galleries, musical institutions, academies, libraries, films and broadcasting, and make recommendations regarding the principles which should guide the policy of the Government in the whole field of artistic activity, and their practical application.

I have seen the arguments in support of my hon. Friend's suggestion, but I am not persuaded that a Royal Commission would be suitable machinery for a review covering so wide and disparate a field.

Does not the Prime Minister think that the present chaos in which all these organisations are competing desperately against each other for public funds, without any system or principle behind the allocation of public funds, is really unworthy of a civilised country?

No, Sir. There is one fact in common linking all these bodies and services—that they are self-governing. Considerations which apply to the various methods of financing them are very different—for instance, as between museums and broadcasting—and I should hardly have thought that a single inquiry was the right way to deal with so tremendously wide a subject.

Will not the right hon. Gentleman give some heed to the desperate plight of provincial museums and galleries and consider the request for a Royal Commission, if necessary for them alone? Is he aware that private bequests are not very valuable now after the many years which have gone by since they were first offered, and that some of our institutions—very valuable ones—are threatened with closure and many with decay?

Yes, Sir, but that is a matter that the Government have to consider and for which they must be responsible. I am only answering whether a Royal Commission over this whole wide field as has been suggested would serve a useful purpose. If I thought that it would, I should certainly try to get it appointed, but I do not feel that that is really the right way.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that over a very wide field people think that there ought to be some investigation, and if a Royal Commission is not the appropriate method of making that investigation, can my right hon. Friend suggest how we are going to get at the problem of a proper division of money for all these very important cultural activities?

These activities are considered year by year by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day and sometimes the money is distributed through organisations like the Arts Council, which I think is a good system, but others are dealt with in different ways. They all vary. I think that the reason they vary is the very wide type of activity with which we have to deal.

I appreciate the point made by the Prime Minister that a single Royal Commission might not be appropriate for this purpose, but did not his reply suggest that he himself perhaps would consider some other form of inquiry, not necessarily for every one of these matters, but at any rate covering the major part of the field?

I would consider that but that would be perhaps the extension of the function of one of these distributing bodies.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will introduce legislation to provide for the election of one-third of the Members of the House of Commons every two years, thus ensuring that Parliament more nearly reflects public opinion.

No, Sir.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that reply was not entirely unexpected? But has he any suggestion for remedying the blatantly unrepresentative character of the House at the moment? Does he not acknowledge that he has been told recently in the bluntest possible terms to get out, and no one cares very much whether he gets out on tiptoe or on his flat feet?

The hon. Gentleman is wrong in assuming that the Answer must necessarily be in the negative. I have thought a good deal about this matter. At first sight the hon. Gentleman's proposal seemed to be not without attraction as a protection against the danger, however remote, of another Socialist Government; but when I reflected that of four such Governments no fewer than three foundered within twelve to eighteen months, I thought perhaps that the hon. Gentleman's apprehensions were too alarming.

Does the Prime Minister not agree that if the suggestion of the hon. Gentleman the Member for Fife, West (Mr. Hamilton) were to be accepted, hon. Members would be eating out of the hands of their local associations and as a result the representation of public opinion in this House would be less and not more effective?

I think that this is a very interesting topic. Perhaps we might discuss it on one of our Private Members' Motions. There were times when annual Parliaments were asked for and then triennial Parliaments. When I was a boy we had them for seven years and now we have settled down to five years. There is a great deal to be said—I quite see the hon. Gentleman's fear.

asked the Prime Minister if he will publish in a White Paper the information on the hazards to man resulting from nuclear explosions which has been gained since the Medical Research Council made its investigations between nine months and two years ago; and whether he will ask the Medical Research Council to renew its inquiry.

There is no question of asking the Medical Research Council to renew its inquiry, for the Council is keeping the hazards to man from all sources of radiation under continuous review. I understand that, since the publication of its Report on this subject last June, no reliable evidence has come to light which does other than confirm the conclusions contained in it. If such evidence should come to hand, the Government will ensure that it is published.

How quickly will the further evidence be published, as several eminent signatories to the M.R.C. Report themselves consider that evidence subsequently produced in America shows that without further atomic tests the strontium in growing children's bones is rapidly rising to a dangerous level?

As I said, the Medical Research Council is continuously reviewing this matter. It has, to guide it, the very expert sub-committees that it has appointed under very distinguished authorities. I do not think that I can do more than say that the reports will be published from time to time, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that all this subject is being looked after by the most expert people that we have in this country and is all the time being reported to the Government.