§ 21. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will revise the cuts he has imposed on the repair programmes of requisitioned properties, as a result of which Lambeth Borough Council and other metropolitan boroughs have been compelled to dismiss building workers.
§ Mr. H. MacmillanNo, Sir, not on present information. The limitation was imposed on the recommendation of a working party which included representatives of all the local Authority Associations. They expressed the belief that more was being spent on these programmes than could be justified in present circumstances.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIs the Minister aware that by forcing local authorities to allow requisitioned properties to fall below an adequate standard of repair he is not only creating unemployment in the building industry but is also placing considerable hardship on the tenants and owners of these requisitioned properties?
§ Mr. MacmillanThe hon. and gallant Gentleman has made many allegations against me, but I hope he will not feel that in the two years in which I have held office I have done anything to increase unemployment in the building industry?
§ Sir H. WilliamsCan my right hon. Friend say whether a working party is a long name for a committee?
§ Mr. MacmillanIt is a modern name.