§ SIR MANCHERJEE BHOWNAGGREEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has now communicated further with the London School Board and with the Education Department on the subject of making provision for displaced occupiers of houses acquired by the School Board in Bethnal Green; and whether he can inform the House of the result of such communications.
§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)May I at the same time ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in accordance with his promise given on the 30th June, he has inquired into the allegation that the London School Board, by acquiring what is known as the Wood Street site in Bethnal Green in two portions, each consisting of less than twenty houses, evaded the obligation to re-house the persons displaced; can he now state the result of his inquiries; is he aware that, by the Educational Department Provisional Order Confirmation (London) Bill now before Parliament, the London School Board is seeking powers to acquire nineteen more houses in Bethnal Green; and what steps does he propose to take to prevent what appears to be an evasion of the law.
§ * SIR M. WHITE RIDLEYI am in communication with the Education Department and the London School Board on the subject referred to in the first paragraph of the question, but I have at present no information to impart. As regards the point raised in the third paragraph, I appreciate its importance, and I am considering, in consultation with the authorities concerned, whether there should not be inserted in this Bill pro- 73 visions with special reference to the re-housing of persons displaced, or liable to be displaced, in Bethnal Green under the various powers taken by the School Board in recent years.