§ 10. Lieut-Colonel Cordeauxasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many landlords of furnished accommodation have been prosecuted under Section 12 (6) of the Rent Act, I957, for failure to provide a rent book.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI regret that this information is not available.
§ Lieut-Colonel CordeauxWill my right hon. Friend accept from me that this Section of the Act is being flagrantly broken by landlords of small furnished accommodation, at any rate in Notting-ham? Will he consider consulting his right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance in order to consider the possibility of instructing managers of National Assistance boards to report to local authorities, who have the power to initiate prosecutions, all those cases where tenants of furnished accommodation who have applied for National Assistance have said that their landlords have refused to supply them with rent books?
§ Mr. BrookeMy hon. and gallant Friend is fully entitled to his view of what is happening. I explained to him that neither I nor anybody else had got the information to reply to his original question. I am sure that what he said in his supplementary question will be brought to the notice of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions.
§ Mr. MitchisonIn view of what the hon. and gallant Member has said, would not the right hon. Gentleman find it quite easy to obtain returns from the local authorities showing how many prosecutions they have started?