Kensington (Hansard, 9 June 1959)

§ 41. Mr. G. H. R. Rogers
asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will consult the Kensington Borough Council to see what special steps should be taken to deal with the housing and social needs of North Kensington.

§ The Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs (Mr. Henry Brooke)
If the council needs further help from me on these matters I am sure it will let me know, and I shall be ready to give what assistance I ca n.

§ Mr. Rogers
Does that mean that the Minister is not interested in trying to find a solution to the problems of this area, since he is apparently not prepared to use his own initiative?

§ Mr. Brooke
It does not mean that, and the hon. Member knows that it does not, because I am visiting his constituency tomorrow. Kensington is an excellent housing authority which is embarking on the clearance of no less than twenty-two acres of slums, which is a big task for a Metropolitan borough. If it wants my help, it will ask for it.

§ 42. Mr. G. H. R. Rogers
asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs how many public buildings, including swimming baths, libraries and social centres, have been erected by the Kensington Borough Council since 1900 with the aid of loans approved by the central Government.

§ Mr. H. Brooke
The records for the earlier years are incomplete but to the best of my knowledge eleven loan sanctions relating to public buildings have been given to the council by the central Government totalling some £680,000. I cannot say how many buildings have been erected therewith.

§ Mr. Rogers
Is the Minister aware that not a single public building of the kind I have enumerated in the Question has been built by the Kensington Council since the Victorian era? Will he be good enough to try to get the council to wake up and to realise that this is the Elizabethan age and that it is time that the council did something?

§ Mr. Brooke
The borough council is responsible to its own electors and I know that it discharges that responsibility very well.