§ 27. Mr. Holtasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what percentage of the black areas as regards air pollution are now designated as smoke control areas.
§ Sir K. JosephAt the end of January, 532 orders for smoke control areas had been made or were in preparation. Together with earlier smokeless zones, these include about 620,000 premises, mostly in the black areas. Eventually, perhaps as many as 8 million premises may be covered, again nearly all in black areas.
§ Mr. HoltAs this is but a small percentage of the black areas, is the Minister satisfied with the response of local authorities to their opportunity? Could he, perhaps, speak with the Minister of Health about it, in view of the relationship between the black areas and the incidence of bronchitis, in order to encourage local authorities to get on with the job quickly?
§ Sir K. JosephMy right hon. Friend intends to press on with the programme, which he would like to see running faster. I must say, however, that it is running now within the sort of overall programme always envisaged in the Beaver Report.