4. Mr. Garry Alliģhanasked the Minister of Works whether he is aware that, of the 118 prefabricated houses allocated to the Gravesend Borough Council in December, 1944, fewer than 50 hulls have yet arrived and only some internal fittings for 12 have been supplied, but none can be occupied owing to the absence of certain minor plumbing parts; where, and why, this hold-up has occurred and when he expects to release the material so that Gravesend can get the first prefabricated house occupied.
§ Mr. TomlinsonBy 10th April the hulls of 75 houses had been delivered to Gravesend, 37 had been erected, and equipment for 16 had been supplied except for some small plumbing parts which had been omitted in packing at the factory. This omission has been rectified and the first two houses should be available for occupation within a fortnight. Further supplies of fixtures and fittings are expected to be sent to Gravesend this week.
Mr. AlliģhanDoes not the Minister realise that there has been a very serious lack of coordination between the various Ministries resulting in the fact that there have been houses standing empty in Gravesend which could have been occupied if there had been cooperation?
§ Mr. TomlinsonI think I have admitted before that there has been a shortage of components due to the fact that we were not manufacturing them at the same speed as the hulls. Whatever coordination there was, if there were not sufficient of them they could not have been supplied.