§ 33. Mr. HARRISasked the Minister of Health when he received a request from the London County Council that the provisions of Part III of the Local Government Bill dealing with town planning should not apply to London?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of HEALTH (Sir Kingsley Wood)Clauses 40–42 cannot in any ease apply to London. As regards Clauses 38,and 39, my right hon. Friend caused inquiry to be made after the proceedings in Committee and ascertained from the clerk to the county council that, while the application of Clause 38 to London raised no difficulty, the application of Clause 39 was not likely to be acceptable to the county council. The Bill was amended accordingly for Report. Owing to the urgency of the matter there was not time to bring it before the council.
§ Mr. HARRISIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that his colleague, the Minister of Health, stated that Clause 43 was introduced at the special request of the county council and that I, as a member, ought to have known that; is he now aware, according to his own admission, that the county council was not asked for its opinion, but that Clause 43 was put in without any consultation with the clerk or any of the officials of the county council, and that they knew nothing about it; and are we to understand that the statements of the right hon. Gentleman are as unreliable as those of the Minister on the same matter?