HC Deb 16 March 1899 vol 68 cc944-5
MR. A. MORTON (Deptford)

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he can state whether the South Eastern Railway Company, previous to pulling down 96 houses, and closing 24 other houses, in the parish of Bermondsey and in the contiguous parishes, for the extension and widening of their railway, have provided to his satisfaction other and suitable homes in the immediate vicinity for the labouring classes so displaced; and, if so, whether he will state in what localities such accommodation has been provided, and will give the number of persons for whom accommodation has been found; whether, in view of the further contemplated extensions, widenings, and improvements already entered upon by the South Eastern Railway Company in that immediate district, and which will displace large numbers of the labouring classes, he will state whether, and, if so, in what locality, the company has already provided the requisite accommodation for their re-housing, as required by their Act, 60 and 61 Vic. c. 227; and, if such provision has not been already made, will he state the date by which the necessary accommodation will be provided, the locality in which the buildings will be situated, and the number of persons who will be provided for?

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. JESSE COLLINGS,) Birmingham, Bordesley

The liability of the railway company to re-house the persons of the labouring class displaced by their operations under the Act referred to is modified by a provision in the further Bill which the company promoted and which received the approval of Parliament last Session. This provision enables the company to submit, and the Secretary of State to approve, a scheme for the temporary re-housing of the persons displaced, pending the erection of new buildings for their permanent accommodation. Under this provision temporary accommodation has been provided for 542 persons in Blocks A, B, and L, of the Guinness Trust Buildings, lately erected in Snowsfields, Bermondsey, and further temporary accommodation is provided in Blocks C, D, and K, of the same buildings, which are in the vicinity of the scene of the widenings, while other persons have been removed at their own request to other dwellings. The blocks referred to contain accommodation for a larger number of persons than has been actually displaced. The question of the permanent re-housing of all these persons is now under the consideration of the Secretary of State, and as he is well aware of the great scarcity of artisans' dwellings in the neighbourhood in question, he will take care that the provision made by the company is adequate.