§ 9. Mr. Crouchasked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he will make a statement on the interim report of the Committee on Building Maintenance; and what action he proposes to take.
§ 26. Mr. Cleggasked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he will make a statement on the report of his Department's maintenance committee.
§ Mr. MellishThis Report was published in January and I am following up all the recommendations which it contained.
§ Mr. CrouchThe right hon. Gentleman has not given the answer I thought he was going to make. I hope that he will not consider setting up still further bodies to handle this kind of work when we already have the Building Research Station, for example.
§ Mr. MellishI take the point. The Report was the first of its kind and it is only an interim one. The Committee is working on studies leading to its final 1147 report. Consultants have been retained to examine costs and benefits of maintenance and the rest. We are doing a useful job already on the interim Report.
§ Mr. CleggWill the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind, in relation to the urgency of doing something about this, the impact that the Housing Bill will have, with its grants for maintenance, in view of the great benefits which can be derived from this?
§ Mr. MellishI take the point. There is consultation between the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and my Department on the whole question of maintenance.