§ 38 and 39. Mr. A. Edward Daviesasked the Minister of Works (1) whether it is proposed to continue the present arrangements for unlicensed domestic and industrial building in view of the need to conserve building resources;
(2) what estimate has been formed of the amount of unlicensed domestic and industrial building work which is at present proceeding; and what was the figure for 1950.
§ Mr. G. BrownI have already announced the continuation of the present licensing arrangements in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South-West (Mr. A. Evans), on 26th June. It is not possible to say precisely what amount of work is done below the licensing limits.
§ Mr. DaviesDoes not my right hon. Friend take the view that much work is being done of minor importance under the unlicensed system, and in view of the necessity of doing everything possible to build as many houses as we can in these difficult times, does he not think that we ought to stop up the leakage that is going on in this way?
§ Mr. BrownNo, Sir. I do not. The work done under this limit includes all maintenance repair work on private houses as well as local authority houses, and I think that if we reduce the limit we shall only add to the paper work without making available any more labour or materials for building purposes.