66. Mr. TYSON WILSONasked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the formal complaint signed by seven inhabitant householders of the rural district of Ticehurst, under Section 10 of the Housing and Town Planning Act, 1909, alleging that the rural district council have failed in the parish of Frant to exercise their powers under Part III. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, and that the case is one in which such powers ought to have been exercised; whether it is the intention of the Board to hold an inquiry into such complaint for the purpose of ascertaining whether the shortage of suitable housing accommodation is an acute one and suitable to be dealt with at once, or whether the Board has procured satisfactory undertakings from the district council that at a more suitable time it will proceed to take steps to remedy the shortage; and, if so, what is the nature of such undertakings?
§ Mr. LONGMy attention has been drawn to the complaint. The rural district council have had the question of the housing conditions in Frant 2285 under consideration, but, owing to the War, they have been unwilling to take any steps that would involve them in capital expenditure at the present time. It is essential in dealing with the question of providing additional houses in Frant to deal also with the question of water supply, as to which there is some difficulty, and before holding a local inquiry on the complaint as to housing I wish to have proposals before me for securing an adequate water supply.