§ 29. Mr. Parkinasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, what request he has received to provide qualified assistance to secretaries of rent tribunals who have recently been asked by the Milner Holland Committee to supply, at short notice, information which can only be secured by searching through all their files; and what help he will provide.
§ Sir K. JosephI have received no such requests.
§ Mr. ParkinI have not thought it proper to make any inquiries of the Paddington Tribunal, but is the Minister aware that I have certain knowledge that one secretary was asked to prepare in 10 days a report which could be drawn up only by having a search made through the whole of the files and the whole history of the tribunal? Does the Minister appreciate that this would seem to indicate a lack of realisation of the extent of the problem to be investigated?
§ Sir K. JosephI understand that before the request was made there were discussions with several of the clerks about whether it was practicable. Obviously any clerk in difficulty has only to get in touch with me.
§ 30. Mr. Parkinasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what numbers of staff have been made available to the Milner Holland Committee to deal with information which the Committee has recently asked for in a widely circulated duplicated letter, and what are their qualifications.
§ Sir K. JosephApart from its secretarial staff, the Committee has three research officers working for it. All are trained and experienced research workers. They are assisted by one clerk.
§ Mr. ParkinIn view of that shocking Answer, will the Minister attempt to calculate how many investigators—for instance, experienced researchers and experienced assessors—were at work in Fleet Street to deal with this problem before they could get anything like a fraction of the answer required? Would not he accept that more like 50 would be required to do this work, with the assistance of the Inland Revenue and the Board of Trade? Will he do his best to dispel the impression that this Committee is not intended to deal seriously with the problem, and that this is a "sweeping under the carpet" device?
§ Sir K. JosephThe Committee is an exceptionally strong one, with forceful people among its members. It is extremely interested in finding the answer to this problem. It is open to the Committee to ask me for more staff if it needs them.
§ Mr. LiptonIs the Minister aware that much more experienced staff, including some people experienced in criminal investigation, will be required to unravel the tentacles of the Brady slum empire?
§ Sir K. JosephIt may well be that from the report of this Committee further research may prove necessary in certain fields. But those fields have to be identified and the Committee must do the work before that identification can be made.
§ Mr. M. StewartCan the Minister estimate when the Committee is likely to report?
§ Sir K. JosephI fear that it will not be before the middle of the year. I cannot be more accurate than that.