§ 9. Sir George Mitchesonasked the Minister of Labour whether he can furnish any information as to the value of building plans approved in areas other than those of the 146 local authorities which supply his Department monthly with such information; and whether he is satisfied that the returns of the 146 local authorities referred to are now representative of the building activities of the country?
§ Mr. E. BrownAs the reply is somewhat long, I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Following is the reply:
I am not in possession of information as to the estimated value of buildings for which plans are approved in areas other than those of the 146 local authorities which supply monthly returns to my Department. The areas of these 146 authorities, however, cover considerably over 40 per cent. of the total population of Great Britain, outside London, and they include the great majority of boroughs and urban districts, other than the Metropolitan boroughs, with populations over 50,000, and some smaller places. I have no reason to suppose that the trend of building activity in these areas, taken as a whole, differs materially 8 from that of building activity in Great Britain generally, apart from the London County Council area (for which such plans as are submitted for approval do not provide a basis for satisfactory estimates of the total value of buildings proposed for construction). It should however, be observed that as widely varying periods may elapse, in different cases, before the approval of plans is followed by the actual construction of buildings, the changes in the estimated value of buildings for which plans are approved should not be regarded as more than roughly indicative of the probable future trend of building activity.