§ 31. Mr. T. GRIFFITHSasked the Minister of Health whether, in order to 102 avoid unnecessary expense, trouble, and delay to local authorities in the preparation of housing schemes, he will indicate to such authorities the approximate prices of houses of different types which he will be prepared to approve; and whether, in the event of tenders at such prices not being forth coming, he will persist in his refusal to approve further contracts, thus preventing local authorities from meeting the housing needs of their areas.
§ Sir A. MONDI am afraid I cannot adopt the hon. Member's suggestion. Apart from the fact that the cost of building necessarily varies in different districts, the publication of prices which would be accepted for different types of houses must result in those prices becoming minimum prices, and would tend to diminish competition in tendering.