HC Deb 10 April 1922 vol 153 cc41-2
80. Mr. GALBRAITH

asked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the annual report of Dr. J. Eustace Hill, county medical officer of health for Durham, in which it is stated that in one large urban district of Tyneside there are 28 rooms occupied by 124 people, of whom 22 are suffering from tuberculosis, and that the county of Durham needs at least 50,000 new houses in order to overtake the arrears of normal building and replace houses unfit for human habitation; and whether, in view of these conditions, he will revise his decision to suspend further building schemes under the Housing Acts?

Sir A. MOND

My attention has been drawn to Reports of the Medical Officer of Health of the county in question. Of the houses which local authorities in the area have been authorised to build, over 3,000 are still unfinished, and an additional 1,700 have not yet been commenced. For reasons which have already been fully stated in this House, the Government are not prepared to revise their general decision, but in so far as adjustments will permit of the allocation of further houses, sympathetic consideration will continue to be given to the special circumstances prevailing in the area.