HC Deb 17 June 1964 vol 696 cc1275-6
26. Mr. Lilley

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many unfit and other houses have been replaced since 1955 in Scotland in general and in the City of Glasgow in particular.

Mr. Noble

Known replacements to the end of 1963 were over 118,000 in Scotland, including about 24,000 in Glasgow. I have no information about wholly private replacements.

Mr. Lilley

While thanking my right hon. Friend for that information, which I think is very helpful indeed, may I ask whether he will bear in mind that the people of Glasgow are becoming a little tired of so much being pulled down and not enough going up? Not enough houses are being built in Glasgow to meet the demands of redevelopment. Will my right hon. Friend bear that in mind when future redevelopment schemes are being formulated?

Mr. Noble

As I said to the House in answer to an earlier Question, the problem nowadays is that many of our new houses are being built in the centre of cities in redevelopment areas, and it is necessary to pull down before one can put up.

Mr. Millan

Can the right hon. Gentleman explain why it is that since the Government's slum clearance drive started in 1958 the number of slum houses dealt with has gone down steadily from 11,000 in that year to only 8,600 in 1963?

Mr. Noble

And they are now going up again.