HC Deb 01 April 1912 vol 36 cc860-2
Sir ARTHUR GRIFFITH-BOSCAWEN

asked the amount of the loans sanctioned by the Local Government Board under the Housing Acts for building houses or cottages for each year from 1900 and 1905, and from 1906 to 1910, both years inclusive in each case?

Mr. BURNS

As the figures are given in tabular form it will be more convenient to circulate the answer with the Votes.

Sir A. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWEN

Can the right hon. Gentleman give us the figures for the two periods in the aggregate?

Mr. BURNS

It seems to me that if I am to give any figures I had better give the lot.

Mr. C. BATHURST

Will the right hon. Gentleman make a distinction between loans to rural authorities and loans to urban authorities?

Mr. BURNS

I had better have notice of that question.

Sir ARTHUR GRIFFITH-BOSCAWEN

asked the amount of the loans to rural district councils sanctioned by the President of the Local Government Board during the year ending the 31st March, 1911, under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1890, and under the Housing Acts, including the Act of 1909?

Mr. BURNS

The total amount of the loans sanctioned to rural district councils under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899, during the year ended the 31st March, 1911, was £3,031, and under the Housing Acts was £250. I may add that the corresponding figures for the year ended 31st March, 1912, were £9,048 and £14,383.

Earl WINTERTON

Are we to understand from those figures that more money has been spent under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act for the year in question than under the whole of the Housing Acts, including the Housing and Town Planning Act?

Mr. BURNS

For that year—yes; but, in and out, the comparison is not fair.

Sir A. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWEN

Is it not the fact that the right hon. Gentleman referred to the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act as a "dead letter"?

Mr. BURNS

No. I think I properly described it as a "wooden nutmeg."

Sir A. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWEN

Is it not the fact that the Act of 1909 is a bigger wooden nutmeg?

Mr. BURNS

On the figures I have given, certainly not.

Earl WINTERTON

Is it not an empty cocoanut?

Sir JOHN JARDINE

asked whether, as the result of his inquiries, anything has been done towards providing household accommodation in the village of Thorpe, Surrey?

Mr. BURNS

The local authority have recently submitted to me revised plans for the erection of twelve cottages in Thorpe. The plans are satisfactory, and I understand that tenders for the erection of the cottages will be obtained by the local authority early in the present month.