§ 21. Mr. Guyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will refer to the Scottish Housing Advisory Committee the question of the provision by local authorities of housing accommodation for single persons by hostel or otherwise?
§ Mr. ElliotNo, Sir; I doubt if it is desirable to consult the committee specifically on this question. It is expected that numbers of suitable small houses will become available for single persons as a result of the decrowding operations. I am prepared, moreover, to consider applications for the provision of hostels on their merits.
§ Mr. WestwoodIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that adequate powers are contained in the 1930 Housing (Scotland) Act to provide hostels, and that many local authorities have taken advantage of those powers; will he give instructions to his Department, where such schemes are justified, not to withhold consent for the building of hostels?
§ Mr. ElliotI think that is covered by the last sentence of my reply, which was that I was prepared to consider, on their merits, applications for the provision of hostels.
§ 22. Mr. Guyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps, if any, have been taken by the Edinburgh Corporation to prepare a scheme for rent rebates under Section 47 of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1935?
§ Mr. ElliotI am informed that the city assessor is, on the instructions of the treasurer's committee of the corporation, at present preparing a report on the subject.
§ Mr. WestwoodIs the Minister aware that two draft schemes have already been submitted to the authorities and that the longer delay there is in getting schemes sent out by the Department the greater will be the difficulties of the local authorities in applying the schemes to either standardisation of rates or rent rebates?
§ Mr. ElliotI am aware of that. I delayed the issue of the draft in consequence of representations by the local authorities that the first draft was unsatisfactory.
§ Mr. WestwoodWhat about the second draft?
25. Mr. J. J. Davidsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has made any inquiries, or received any report, from the Glasgow Corporation on the question of housing?
§ Mr. ElliotI am in constant touch, either directly or through the Department of Health for Scotland, with the Corporation of Glasgow with regard to housing; and I hope to discuss the whole subject with them as soon as reasonably possible.
Mr. DavidsonWill the right hon. Gentleman discuss at the same time the recent statements and publications made by the Treasurer of the Glasgow Corporation, with a view to ascertaining the truth of those statements made by him?
§ Mr. ElliotNo, Sir; I shall not investigate any statement made by the Treasurer of Glasgow Corporation, but any of the matters relating to Glasgow housing will be discussed with the corporation as soon as it is possible.
§ 27. Mr. Garro Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will procure a special report on the general housing situation in Aberdeen and, in particular, on the bad condition in which tenants of the buildings known as the Jute 202 Works are living; and whether, having regard to the apparent failure of the local housing authorities to realise or to grapple with their housing problem on an adequate scale, he will endeavour to accelerate and enlarge the plans now contemplated by the city council and bring them into closer relation with the urgent needs of the overcrowded and slum-housed section of the population?
§ Mr. ElliotI have already arranged for an inspection of the Jute Works to be made this week. With regard to the remainder of the question, while the corporation's output of 614 houses in 1936 represented an increase over the previous year, which was 570, and again over that of the year before, namely, 204, it nevertheless fell short of programme. The corporation have, however, planned to increase this output and hope to double it in the near future. I shall continue to keep in close touch with them to secure that the maximum possible progress is maintained.