§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he can now state the result of his communications with the London School Board and the Education Department respecting the displacement of working class occupiers of houses acquired by the Board in Bethnal Green under its statutory powers; and whether he is now in a position to state the nature of the provisions respecting the re-housing of displaced persons which it is proposed to insert in the Educational Department Provisional Order Confirmation (London) Bill at present before Parliament.
§ * SIR M. WHITE RIDLEYI have made the inquiries which I promised and find that in several cases in the last few years the London School Board have obtained powers over labouring class houses in two successive sessions for the purpose of what was essentially one scheme, and have thus not come under a statutory obligation to rehouse the persons displaced. I concur with the Education Department in thinking that steps should be taken to prevent the recurrence of this practice, and as regards the Bill now before Parliament I propose to move the insertion of words which will enable the cases during the last five years, which I have referred to above, to be dealt with as though they had originally come within the obligation to re-house.
§ MR. FLOWER (Bradford, W.)May I ask whether the School Board have made proposals to modify the retrospective action of the Amendment which the Home Secretary has put down, in order that it shall apply only to cases where twenty or more houses are required in one parish for the purpose of one particular school site, and whether the right hon. Gentleman will not agree to these proposals, in view of the great difficulty of carrying out the retrospective Amendment.
§ * SIR M. W. RIDLEYI have received a communication from the School Board objecting to the proposal which I shall ask the Committee to put in the Bill; but I am bound to say that I cannot agree with the School Board's representations.