Houses

HC Deb 06 May 1964 vol 694 cc1257-8

5. Mr. P. Noel-Baker

asked the Minister of Transport if he will give a general direction, in the public interest, to the Railways Board not to sell any more of its railway houses.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. T. G. D. Galbraith)

No, Sir. I do not think that this would be appropriate.

Mr. Noel-Baker

Did not the old railway companies buy houses for perfectly good administrative reasons in order to facilitate the movement of personnel when they were promoted from one place to another?

Mr. Galbraith

It may well have been that the old private companies did this for good administrative reasons, but equally for good administrative reasons the Railways Board now wishes to get rid of some of its houses.

Mr. Noel-Baker

In some of the cases of proposals for sale, would not the sale have meant grave injustices to individual employees of the railways, and will not a general sale impede the process of promotion?

Mr. Galbraith

This is a matter which must be left to the commercial and managerial judgment of the Railways Board.

Sir J. Macleod

Can my hon. Friend give an assurance that there is no deliberate running down of the railways in a certain region by selling these properties?

Mr. Galbraith

Certainly I can, Sir.

38. Mr. P. Noel-Baker

asked the Minister of Transport what percentage increase has been made by the British Railways Board in the rents charged by the Board for houses in its possession which are let to railway personnel.

Mr. Galbraith

The British Railways Board tells us that the rents of railway-owned houses, where these are not subject to rent control, are fixed in the light of the levels of rent currently charged for comparable properties in each locality. No figure of the overall percentage increase in such rents over any period is available, and to obtain one would, the Board tells me, entail a disproportionate amount of work.

Mr. Noel-Baker

Does not the Minister agree that real hardship was caused to one of my constituents when his rent was raised by 70 per cent. the other day? Is that not a change in his conditions of employment made by the Railways Board?

Mr. Galbraith

Tenants of the Railways Board have the same protection as tenants of other landlords. It would be wrong to put the Railways Board into a different position.

Mr. Noel-Baker

Does it not alter the terms of employment when the rent is increased by 70 per cent.?

Mr. Galbraith

That is an entirely different question from the one on the Order Paper.